greg, if you want to experience French culture en route to the Maritimes, I suggest you take the 401 East out of Toronto. It will take you through Oshawa and Cornwall and on into Quebec. If you like big bilingual multi-cultural cities, you'll want to spend a day or two in Montreal, I bet. Just drive with a LOT of caution there, as Montreal drivers are very much like European ones   ;-)

Then, follow the St Lawrence River up to Quebec City (stay on the north side of the river), and spend a day there if you can. It's the oldest, most "European-flavoured" city in Canada imo -- lots of good eats, bistros, French Canadian folk-music. And the Plains of Abraham are there as well, where Wolff defeated Montcalm and claimed Quebec for the British centuries ago. (if you're into that kind of thing at all, you won't want to miss out on this pivotal moment in Canadian history).

When I drove out east, I crossed the St Lawrence at Quebec City and continued eastwards through New Brunswick, and then on to Nova Scotia. It's a beautiful drive, and if you do travel across New Brunswick I suggest stopping at the Reversing Falls in St. John (the provincial capital), on the Bay of Fundy. They have the highest tides in the world there, so high that on the Full Moons the water actually reverses direction and flows UP the falls. It's quite the unusual phenomena! But you do have to time yourself to be there on the Full Moon ....

Good luck planning your visit!

daylia