how to import in python French written xls file

Question

I have to import in python the containt of a French written xls file.. I was managing to use the xlrd library but I'm not able to deal with the accent. I know the right codec should be UTF-8, but I don't know how to set it in the starting xls file.. any hint?

Answer 1

SOLVED: in the end I decided to export the original file in csv, using the codec utf-8.