Marin Mersenne described him, along with Nicolas Hotman, as the most excellent French viola da gamba virtuoso, in particular, improviser of diminutions.
He is first identified as a musician attached to Henriette Marie de France, and follows her to London after her marriage to Charles I of England in 1625.
After his return, he published a French translation of Francis Bacon's letter Advancement of learning.
In 1634, he published a translation of another of Bacon's letters, Considerations Touching on a War with Spain.
Following this journey, he wrote the account in the form of a letter Response faite à un curieux sur le sentiment de la musique en Italie, escrite à Rome, le 1er octobre 1639 (Response to an Inquisitive Person on the Italian Feeling about Music, wrote in Rome on 1st October 1639) about his experiences from his Italian journey, which was published posthumously in 1672.