Self-studying French

I speak Spanish (and Catalan), English and some German. I'm also in the process of learning Mandarin.

Since I have some free time (although not that much), I was thinking of learning French, which, in principle, wouldn't require much effort, being another Latin language and all.

It seems that the Alter Ego courses are the most commonly used, but I wonder whether there are better courses/books out there for self-studying the language.

Any tips on this?

I personally like the Hugo French courses

http://www.amazon.com/French-Three-Months-Hugo-Publishing/dp/0789495546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262271527&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/French-Hugo-Advanced-Language-Course/dp/1405304820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262271548&sr=1-1

Assimil is also supposed to be good, but I don't really know what it's like.

http://www.amazon.com/French-Ease-Assimil-Method-Books/dp/2700520130/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262271624&sr=1-1