These extracts from Lessons and Discoveries tell the story of Martin Rigby Smith's budding appreciation of French language and literature, both at school and outside school. There are thumbnail sketches of his three French teachers and what he learnt from them at French A-level, and also what he learnt from his mother - French songs, nursery rhymes, poetry - and when studying French on his own in his last year at school. Included too is Martin's entertaining account of a Combined Cadet Force trip to France when he was 16, with many memorable experiences; a trip which did much to foster his love of French and the country of France.