I always wondered what blend Simenon smoked! My wife is a huge fan of the books so I ordered the set of all the French/Cremer DVDs. Oh my, there a a vast quantity of DVDs: 36, each with two episodes. Wish we'd started the series at the beginning of the pandemic. We find not only the stories (mostly) good, but production quality is up to par as is acting. Notably, we are only about seven episodes in but we like the way the stories do not stay in the same context: this time in Paris, next time in the country, another time in a posh house, at a cafe. Maigret goes to where the crime happens. The pipe smoking aspect still rather takes me by surprise each time I see him puffing away, so unused to seeing anyone on the screen smoking a pipe. Fits the character perfectly.