How do I put French accents on Mac office

To type an accent, hold the option key down and type the accent first:

the cursor will not advance - then type the letter and it will appear underneath the accent.

MtD

Option+e +e = é

Option + i + e = ê

Option + i + a = â

Option+ i + o = ô

Option+ u + e = ë

Option + c = ç

Option +e+E = É

and so on.....

I am running Lion 10.7 and when you hold down the e key a small menu pops up that provides a list of different accents è,é,ê,ë,ē,ė,ę. It's the same for other keys like a, i, o, u etc.

Perfect little shortcut. I and my french teacher thank you!