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French Kissing Map
How many kisses to plant on the cheeks? It depends where you are in France.
A survey aimed at determining the correct etiquette of kissing has found a fracture at the heart of the country.
How many kisses to plant on the cheeks? Nowhere is the puzzle more complex than in France, the country most famed for the practice.
A website, Combien de Bises (How Many Kisses) invited Internet users to vote on what they consider to be the appropriate number of kisses for a greeting in their département. More than 18,000 votes have been registered and the picture of a divided nation is emerging.
In Paris and central France, most people give two kisses – one on each cheek. But a swath of northern France, from Normandy to the Belgian border, opted in general for four. And southeastern France, from Marseilles to the Alps, preferred three. Two départements – Finistère in Brittany and DeuxSèvres in the centre – give a meagre one.
Class distinctions also come into play. French upper classes prefer two kisses. Anyone planting three or more smackers on the cheeks of their host at a refined dinner would be committing a faux pas.
Combien de Bises | Via The Times
Sat 01-Dec-07 | Posted in: Society
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