West and East, mutual attraction and mutual repulsion of their cultures - in the book of A.V. Chudinov this topic is considered on the example of the history of spiritual formation and joint wanderings of two prominent political figures of France and Russia - J.Romm and P.A.Stroganova. Teacher and student, they spent eleven years together, had a common circle of reading and dating, traveled together in Russia and Western Europe, studying the economy, traditions, morals of different peoples and meeting with prominent representatives of the culture of the Enlightenment, together participated in the events of the first two years of the French Revolution of the 18th century. Subsequently, each of them got the opportunity to test jointly acquired ideas in the political life of their country: Romm - as one of the leading figures of the Convention in 1792-1795, Stroganov - as the closest associate of Alexander I, an ideologist and active participant in liberal reforms in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.