Character encoding problems

[Pagurek,Debbie [NCR]]

Argh - hey everyone,
I'm getting frustrated with a shapefile that I have that contains the word "Gaspé".
When I query this shapefile using Chameleon I'm seeing GaspT or Gasp?. I've tried using Excel to update the dbf but that doesn't work. I've tried other DBF editors as well. 
I'm confused about character encoding etc.
Please - does anyone have a clue as to how I can fix my shapefile attributes with proper french encoding (that will then appear properly when queried from a web mapping app)?

Thanks in advance.
D. Pagurek