my bad. i'm playing XL with the Tyberius patch. the only province that i have on continental Europe is Normandy. i think i'll just try to make sure that Normandy's well defended and hope that discourages France from trying to start a war for awhile, or maybe they'll get hung up in a war with Germany and be too preoccupied with them to worry about me. i just don't want to get bored with the campaign before the high era starts and it seems like it'd be pretty boring if France is eliminated early.