
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 24, 1995                   TAG: 9509260014
SECTION: TRAVEL                    PAGE: D-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GERRY DAVIES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IF YOU GO TO QUEBEC ...

You'll have an easier time navigating both the roads and the menus if you brush up on your high school French, or at least take along a phrase book. Most people in Quebec city's tourist industry speak at least some English, but English menus aren't always offered, and bilingual natives become rarer as you travel farther out. (At Restaurant au Parmesan our waiter was bilingual, but his languages were Italian and French. There, for the first time, the months Clare had spent reclaiming her high school French paid off.)

You don't need a passport to get into Canada (driver's license and voter registration card will do), but you could need one to get out again. A less-than-cordial U.S. immigration officer informed us on our return that we had inadequate proof of citizenship, and that our re-entry depended upon whether she'd take our word for it.

Keep your receipts. The Canadian government will refund federal and provincial taxes paid on rooms and goods (but not meals and transportation), and they'll add up to a significant sum. We got back $120 from our one-week stay.

Brochures and guides from the tourist board, Tourisme Quebec (800-363-7777), are a good place to start your planning. We found the board friendly and helpful.

The weather can be brisk early and late in the summer, so be prepared for cool weather. This is Canada, after all.

by CNB