Worker SE, settler S as planned. Good move, as there's a 4-turner right there. Paris is settled, Pottery at max. As it's necessary to chop some wood, the best use of the shields is to train a warrior first, then go for the granary, and so i do.
The warrior goes exploring E, sees the coast, then proceeds north and circles around Paris. First hut gives Bronze Working, second hut gives a
settler. Orleans is founded Nx2-NW of Paris, and successive cities are placed at RCP 4, clearly the best settling option at this point.
Pretty soon i figure out the Gilligan start and take appropriate measures. Max research up to Map Making, prebuild for Great Lighthouse on a productive core city and, later on, 3 galley prebuilds around to start exploring ASAP. Then i realize that the city of Rheims, placed NEx4 from Paris, with both very productive tiles and a golden mountain in range, could benefit of the Colossus, and i say to myself: why not trying? Therefore, Rheims turns to Colossus and Lyons (Ex2-NE) turns to Great Lighthouse. The fallback plain, in case i'm beaten with the Colossus, is to have Rheims reverting to Great Lighthouse and Lyons turning to a Hanging Gardens prebuild, for Golden Age purposes.
Meanwhile, Orleans is using a second prebuild for the Forbidden Palace, in light of my long-term goal which is to relocate the capital somewhere in the Pangea and build a RCP 5+7 around it. Once done that, Orleans will be surrounded by 6 cities at rank zero (RCP<5), two cities at RCP=5 and one at RCP=7, making the whole Gilligan Island tremendously powerful, in terms of both production and money.
In 1625 BC, Map Making is complete and i start exploring the coastline. Little Gilligan is soon discovered and by 1400 BC i have my first oversea colony. Two harbors are being built to connect luxury 2 and have some relief from unhappiness.
In 1175 BC Rheims completes the Colossus and 2 turns later Orleans completes the Forbidden Palace. The money bonus and the reduction in corruption allow me to shave off a handful of turns toward Republic.
The 1000 BC mark is met with encouraging stats:
15 towns, 39 pop units;
8 workers, 16 warriors, 1 spear, 9 galleys,
granary in Paris, FP in Orleans, Colossus in Rheims
5 turns to Republic, and a lot of techs missing
Eventually, i decide to delay Republic 1 turn, in order to have a settler and a harbor completed before the revolt. The research is completed in 850 BC, i revolt immediately, get 6 turns of anarchy and reroll for 1 turn
In 800 BC France is a Republic. In the same date the settling phase is complete. There's still an open spot on the northern tip of Little Gilligan and another town would fit there nicely, but a barb encampment is present and i decide to leave it there undisturbed until someone makes to the Middle Ages and triggers an uprising. Some units will await there and defend against the horde of horsemen, with the goal of getting a few elite promotions.
In 690 BC the Great Lighthouse is complete and i send my already respectable fleet of galleys around to explore the sea tiles. Alas, nothing of interest is found. France goes on alone for a little while more. I've been researching Iron Working, Literature and Math, connecting the two islands with harbors, built a pair libraries and started others. Paris and Orleans have reached city status. Orleans is using the Great Library as a prebuild for the Hanging Gardens.
Finally, two fleets are assembled on the opposite tips of Little Gilligan, roughtly at the equator level. A grand total of 12 suicide galleys are sent into blue waters all at once. Half of them didn't make it, but the rest survived long enough to reach safe waters in 450 BC. After the trade round i've collected all contacts, all maps, knowledge of a bunch of new techs and a few hundred golds in French coffers.
Here are some logs:
Techs:
4000bc: Masonry, Writing (prerequisites)
3550bc: Bronze Working (hut);
3200bc: Pottery (research);
2230bc: Writing (research);
1625bc: Map Making (research);
1400bc: Code of Laws (research);
1275bc: Philosophy (research)
_850bc: Republic (research)
_730bc: Iron Working (research);
_630bc: Literature (research);
_550bc: Mathematics (research);
_450bc: War Code, Wheel, Ceremonial Burial (trade, China); Mysticism (trade, India); Horse Riding (trade, Japan);
Cities:
3950bc: Paris
3300bc: Orleans
2630bc: Lyons
2430bc: Rheyms
2230bc: Tours
2030bc: Marseilles
1870bc: Chartres
1700bc: Avignon
1675bc: Besancon (gems)
1600bc: Rouen
1400bc: Grenoble (first oversea colony)
1300bc: Dijon
1200bc: Amiens
1100bc: Cherbourg
1000bc: Poitiers (incense)
_900bc: Toulouse
_800bc: Bayonne
Meetings:
_450bc: everybody
