French drain placement against a retaining wall, question.

[Baitball Blogger]

Okay, here's what I don't understand. To build a retaining wall properly, they say you should bury the first row, or at least, half-bury it for stability. And then, you place a french drain behind it.

I have studied up french drains and understand about placing the drain pipe on the non-woven geo-fabric, dump drain rocks on top and wrap like a burrito. What I don't understand is exactly where the pipe should fall, in relation to the wall. For example, if I put it on the same level as the buried row of bricks, then there is no way for the weep pipe to run downhill. So, it's obvious the pipe needs to be on level with the top of the second row from the bottom, so you can grade it downward, to allow proper drainage.

Does this sound right?