For our friends coming from the US, crossing the border is a an efficient and painless process. You will find a lot of useful information on the following site:
http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/travel/travel.htm

Generally, you will drive up to a booth at which a customs inspector will note your license plate number and ask a few questions, such as your name, your place of birth and the purpose of your trip. 95% of the time, you will be on your way in less than one minute.
Speak clearly, tell the truth, be polite, don't joke. That's all there is to it. Really.

Legal tender in Canada, of course, is the Canadian dollar. It is currently exchanged at a rate of approximately C$1.58 per US$. Your US$ will go a long way during the weekend!

Shops and restaurants will gladly accept payment in US$ and will provide an exchange rate that reflects a premium value for the greenback. You will usually get better value by buying Canadian dollars at a local bank branch, however. Using specialty foreign exchange counters can be convenient (you will find a few in Old Montreal) but they sometimes charge relatively large
transaction fees.

For a stay of only a weekend, the most efficient way to pay may be to use a credit card. Canadian businesses will take payment on your US credit card and will bill you in US dollars, using an exchange rate which is usually quite good.

Canada is officially a bilingual country and Quebec is officially a French-speaking province. Things that are of provincial jurisdiction (like most highway signs) are in French only and things of federal jurisdiction will be in both official languages.

In Montreal, and in most areas we are likely to visit, people will be more than happy to help you out in your language of choice, especially if they notice a cute car and American license plates. People will still appreciate an attempt to communicate in French and we will give you some pointers once you're at the Inn.

We're sure you will find that the French environment adds a little bit of flavor to the ECR and makes your trip more pleasurable.

When you cross the border into Canada, you will notice that speed limits are posted in kilometers per hour. A speed limit of 100 translates into approximately 62mph and 50km/h is just about 30 mph (D'oh).

We usually don't worry about my speed, on the major thruways, unless I exceed 120km/h, which is almost exactly 75 mph.

*Theoretically every P-car is a 914:
944s are wide body 4 cyl. versions,
911s are more luxury version of the 914-6 (the engine is in the back to reduce noise level thus luxury),
928s are 2 914s stuck together especially
in the engine compartment and boxsters are next generation!

By the time you know it, you're surrounded by plenty of beautiful cars. Some super clean called 'concours' (French word), some weird ones with turbos or V8's, big flares, 6 cyl. conversions . You name it we'll have it!


Canadian beer is stronger than american beer, just like the hochey teams... Sorry, it was an easy one...

If you have any questions, please email the ECR2002 committee.