Click on the "read" button ▶️ above to listen to the text read by Elisabeth
How many kisses?
Have you ever heard a French person say "Ici, c'est trois!" or "Ici, c'est deux"? He is of course talking about "kisses".
Kissing hello or goodbye to family, friends or friends of friends is a real ritual in France. This custom sometimes makes foreigners, especially Anglo-Saxons, laugh.
The icing on the cake is that the number of kisses to greet someone changes according to the region!
Most French people give two kisses, but in some regions, we can give up to 4 kisses. For example, in Montpellier we do 3 kisses and in a part of Normandy we do 4 kisses.
Another question to ask is whether to start with the right cheek or the left? Again, this depends on the region. In Paris or Brittany, you turn your right cheek. In the south of France, you turn your left cheek. If you turn the wrong way, it can be very awkward, especially if you are kissing, for example, your girlfriend's father. You might end up with him mouth to mouth!
You are now warned.
Day 3 - My French notebook
Français 
English