In 2003, Dirk Van der Cruysse published five years of travel diaries kept by a Frenchman in the Dutch Indies, a “mercenary of the VOC”. Although identified, the origins and social environment of the author Jean Guidon de Chambelle remained unknown, even though this Parisian Protestant claimed powerful recommendations. Documents found in different archives have helped to uncover Guidon’s large network of relatives. His network, with extensive connections in areas skirting the Atlantic coasts, also underline the key role of Parisian Calvinists in the relationships between the Kingdom of France and the United Provinces or their financial support to the government during the Fronde period. The contextualization of the Guidon diaries are key to understanding the reason for his departure : a pathological player, his family took him away from an environment which kept him trapped in his addiction. The construction of the text highlights the Calvinist faith of the sieur de Chambelle, pressed into service for his return to the circle of his relatives.