Thanks for all your suggestions. Right now I'm leaning towards _Principes d'implantation de Scheme et Lisp_ which is one of the recommended books (its earlier edition was called _Les Langages Lisp_) on this page:
http://www.cliki.net/Favorite%20Lisp%20books Wish me luck trying to order it to the U.S.
Rick, in a couple of years if there's a new edition TCPPPL covering C++0x I think I'll follow your suggestion and update my copy to a French translation, assuming I continue to make progress.