The writer Francois Anselo arrived in Russia in the summer of 1826 with the French embassy to participate in the celebrations on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas I. He outlined his impressions in a book published the following year, which had a loud resonance in Europe and Russia. Anselo's lively and easily written notes contain interesting observations of Russian life of that time, a description of the sights of Moscow and St. Petersburg, coronation celebrations, etc.