- Rousseau is quite a popular guy, as it turns out. Mlle Giraud and Mlle Merceret are also into him.
- Mlle Merceret takes Rousseau along as a traveling companion as she goes back to visit her father.
- Although the two frequently stay in the same room along the journey, nothing romantic happens.
- On the way to their final destination, Rousseau stops to see his own dad. It's quite the emotional reunion.
- Finally, Mlle Merceret and Rousseau arrive safely at Fribourg, the home of Mlle Merceret's father.
- On the way back, Rousseau stops at the beautiful Lasanne Lake. He's broke as a joke, but a kind innkeeper allows him to stay for free.
- There, he has a revelation: his luck will change if he changes his name. Bye-bye Rousseau, hello Vaussore de Villeneuve!
- After meeting a music-loving law professor named M. de Treytorens, Rousseau decides to compose a piece for his concert.
- His piece is performed. It sounds absolutely terrible, though. Well, at least the minuet part sounds okay.
- Rousseau picks up two music pupils. He's finding some way of making money.
- One day, Rousseau meets a man with a large beard while dining at an inn. It turns out that the guy is a Greek priest.
- The fellow asks Rousseau along on a tour of Jerusalem. Rousseau happily agrees.
- On their way, they stop by Soleure to see the French ambassador. Surprisingly, the French ambassador is a dude from Rousseau's past. It's M. de Bonac.
- Bonac and his wife persuade Rousseau to stay at the embassy and work, not travel to Jerusalem. Score one for Rousseau.
- Rousseau is put up to stay in a room where another famous writer with his same name stayed. This lights a fire under him to start writing.
- After only a brief time, Rousseau gets restless and wants to head to Paris.
- Rousseau has a fantastic time in the City of Lights. It's the most gorgeous place he's ever been.
- He makes friends with a lady named Mme de Merveilleux, who tells him that his beloved Mama left the city long ago.
- Always the restless one, Rousseau spends a little time talking about his journey through Lyons.
- Two men proposition him for sex on the way through Lyons, but he turns them down.
- Rousseau receives some news that Mama is at Chambery. She sends him some cash to come see her, at long last.
- By the end of Book 4, Rousseau is on his way to see Mama.
- When he arrives, she's with the Intendant General. Mama has convinced him to give Rousseau a livelihood—major life moment, right here.
- He apologizes to the reader for including so many "childish" stories up to this point in his memoir, but they're all important to his adult life.