How does la bise works in France ?

And how much do you do it ?

How many kisses do the French give each other? 

How la bise works in France? The bise is one of the most common gestures in everyday life. This gesture is there to say hello, and sometimes also goodbye. Sometimes, this moment can be embarrassing when we don’t know how many kisses we have to give or which side we need to kiss first. Indeed, the number of kisses varies according to the department, city and region.

France is a country full of little habits that vary from north to south, and from east to west.

And with the travels of the vacations, we are a little lost, so to help you, here’s a great map to know how many kisses you’ll have to do here or there.

And for Paris? Well, Paris being the home of French people from all the departments, it’s a bit of a battle.

But usually 2 kisses is the “normal” bise.

What else you should know about “la bise”?

You could do it with people who gets the same age than you and younger.

Usually with older people, you check hands.

Two men check hands, but if they are very good friends sometimes they do “la bise”. So, when you see 2 men do “la bise”, it means, they know each other very well or they are brothers/cousins.

Two women do “la bise”.

A man and a woman do “la bise”, excepted if someone shows a hand at first

Do you have questions about “la bise”? We could help you ?

Fun video showing la bise !

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