> Yeah as far as I know, in French words are always pronounced consistent with how they're spelled.

Whoa, very much not! I have spent the last 20 years trying to learn how to pronounce french words (my partner is a native french speaker, so I keep trying). The only somewhat consistent pattern I have is that the last few letters of each word are often silent, but even that is not really always consistent.

I'm fluent in 4 languages but french is an impossibly tough nut to crack for me.