*Apprenti n’est pas maître = One must not expect from a beginner the talent of an old hand; You must spoil before you spin.
Appui
Mur à hauteur d’appui = A wall breast high (so that one may lean against it).
Faites la proposition, j’irai à l’appui de la boule = You make the proposal, and I will support it.
[This idiom comes from the game of bowls, when by hitting your partner’s ball you may drive it nearer the goal, though unable to approach yourself.]
Appuyer
Vous vous appuyez sur un roseau = You are trusting to a broken reed.
Après
*Après lui il faut tirer l’échelle = One cannot do better than he has; No one can come up to him in that; That takes the cake.
[Comp. Molière, Médecin malgré lui, ii. 1.]