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Are We Seeing the Demise of the Little French Kiss?
COVID is killing a part of French culture
One of the things that people of Anglo-Saxon descent are quickly confronted by in France is what is known locally as the bisou. This is the traditional greeting in which people kiss one another on both cheeks. This behaviour is by no means restricted to men kissing women and vice versa. If I know a man well, it would be quite normal for me to give or receive the ‘bis’ as the greeting is commonly referred to. It is a clear indication of friendship.
The Hand Shake Culture
I grew up in a society where men shake hands on being introduced to one another and where physical contact after that is pretty much restricted to the occasional slap on the back. In order not to be regarded with suspicion, that initial handshake had to be firm and I still know many men who swear they can judge a man by his handshake.
To suddenly find myself brushing cheeks with the whiskery jowls of my neighbour came as something of a shock. That was twenty years ago and in the years that have passed since then, it is a practice, I have gradually become accustomed to.
That is not to suggest that this method of greeting is without its complications. It simply wouldn’t be France if it were. Different regions require a…
