Reading In Another Language

I have recently been given some reading materials in German. This is not a big problem for me, as I spent four years in Germany, speaking German every day, and reading a good many things. (Most puzzling and amusing were notices from the local utilities!)
I am amazed at how much comes back to me. I need the dictionary for some words here and there, but I can usually get the gist of things, especially the Reader's Digest magazines. The ads are interesting in those. Nearly all of them are for herbal supplements or financial services. There were a couple of ads for major appliances, but mostly financial services and herbal supplements. I was expecting an ad for ADAC, the Allegemiene Deutsche Automobil Club, but I haven't seen any. Their ads were ubiquitous in the German publications I ran into in Frankfurt.
We were members of ADAC all four years we were in Germany.
I miss Germany a lot. There was reliable and safe public transportation, we lived on a farm, so we had peace and quiet and forest paths to walk on. I know that actually living on the economy there, without the military support we enjoyed would not be easy, especially now as the dollar is so low against the Euro.
I can usually read the signs on the Formula 1 race tracks, whatever part of Europe they are in, as they are usually in English, German, Spanish, or Italian. (I've read enough Italian lyrics for arias that I can make pretty good guesses as to meanings of things. Helps that it isn't too far off Spanish, too.)
When I lived in California, I learned quite a bit of Spanish. I have forgotten a lot of it because the German is more recent. I can still make sense of most of what I read, though. I have trouble following what people say because they speak so quickly. German can be hard to follow in spoken form, because you may get someone who mixes local dialect with the HochDeutsche, and that can be really confusing. (Kind of like trying to understand someone from Brooklyn if you grew up in Savannah.) (Or someone from either place if you grew up in L.A.)

The one language (besides the Asian ones) that I may never be able to decipher is French. It just doesn't make any logical sense to me. I can't pronounce it, even with extensive coaching. I think I have a mental block against it. No offense to the French. They have a grand and illustrious history, I just cannot fathom their language.