Barrett, YOur first mistake was to start with Bolero, which, although
a tour de force of orchestrational skill, is his most banal piece, and
IHMOFWIW etc, his one and only failure.  As far as I am concerned, Ravel
ranks with Britten, Brahms and Bach as the near perfect composer.  I have
simply found nothing EXCEPT Bolero to dislike.  I would suggest that you
start with the string quartet, which AFAIAC is the ultimo masterpiece in
the genre, period.  Follow that by the magnificent piano music, then move
to something unusual like L'Enfant de les Sortileges (apologies for any
misspelled French).  Ravel is one of the few composers who is near perfect
as far as I am concerned.

Kevin