After banging my head against the wall trying to get rid of my writer's block, I've decided to turn the floor open for suggestions for my
Louis XVI-TL.
It's TTL 1787, Louis XVI (POD is that Louis, duc de Bourgogne has survived) has avoided the American Revolution,
As in "money had not been wasted"?
managed to level taxes across the board, and is improving the army's arms (they've got new pistols and better gunpowder)
How about reforming artillery? In OTL Gribeauval system was adopted in 1765 and the new, "Year XI system" was developed only in 1803 and did not fully replace the old one. The problems with the Gribeauval system were nothing new (4-pdrs were too light and 8-pdrs too heavy) so switching to the 6, 12, 24 system was quite logical and did not require any technological advances and ASB involvements.
as well as starting with colonial adventures in the recently reacquired Louisiana territory, and building up the navy.
Building up navy is reasonable but was there any real profit in fighting for Louisiana?
How about (if you can't stay out of the wars

) trying to regain French positions in India? It is still far from being controlled by the Brits and if Louis is advanced enough with his navy, then he can try.
Over the border in the Netherlands, Joseph II and Willem V's style of government is reaching boiling point, with there already having been Prussian intervention in the Netherlands.
However, I'm at a loss of where to go from here, especially since I want to avoid wankish territory. I'd like to know what you guys would suggest?
IMO, as far as more or less harmless territorial games are involved, there are options:
(a) Confront the Brits in India either by trying to get back the old Carnatic territory (most probably will require a war) or by capturing some pieces to which the Brits did not come too close (may happen peacefully, the "natives" do not count).
(b) Start conquests in Africa. The Northern Africa is obvious target and, with Algiers and Tunisia conquered (at least coastal areas), then conquest of Egypt is simplified (reachable by land). Most of African coast is open for grabs so plenty of opportunities there.
(c) Start conquests in Indo-China.
All of the above are "normal" colonial activities which may or may not led to the confrontation with Britain but more safe, in the terms of resources and complications, than the European adventures. At least some of them may produce almost immediate economic gains (cynically, a greater volume of the slave trade).
In OTL at approximately that time France prepared a trade agreement with Russia which was dragged through the French bureaucracy and eventually died from the natural cause (Revolution). The irony was in the fact that France had a positive trade balance with Russia and this agreement was going to improve it even further. For Russian side the advantage was purely political: France promised not to help the Ottomans (at least officially). If this agreement comes to live, then economy of France is at least somewhat improves due to a new market for their products (you can start with champagne, which was already quite popular in Russia

).
Don't take any sides in the European mess.