Now for something completely different. Descend from the mountains of Vermont or the vast forests of Maine to the St Lawrence River valley, and you'll find the huge Province of Québec, Canada.

Montréal is one of my favorite cities in all the world, a wonderful multi-cultural metropolis of bustling streets, fascinating things to see and do, good hotels and excellent cuisine from a dozen parts of the world.

Québec City, smaller and somewhat more placid, is the heart and soul of French Canada, the first settlement (1608) in La Nouvelle France, a charming old walled city that is still the governmental and cultural capital of Canada's largest and second-most-populous province.

To cross the border from New England USA to Canada you should have your US passport (or US passport card) or, if you're not a US citizen, the necessary passport (and perhaps a Canadian visa).

Currency in Canada is the Canadian dollar. You may be able to pay with US dollars in some places, but the rate of exchange may not be so good. It's better to use a credit card, to change your currency into Canadian dollars, or to withdraw some money from your home bank account in Canadian dollars from an ATM/cash machine in Canada.

You'll notice lots of things that are similar in the USA and Canada, but also lots of things that are different. Vive la différence!