"La bise": the French custom of kissing on the cheeks

The French are famous for the custom of greeting people with kisses on the cheeks. This custom is called in French se faire la bise, which isn't translatable into other languages: literally, it means to do the peck (little kiss). I read somewhere (but I don't remember where) that the bise originated in the North-Western region of Bretagne and was first practised by people from the country, then it spread throughout France.
Be aware of this before going to France: the kissing on the cheeks is an institution in France. Whenever two people meet in informal circumstances, they are expected to exchange kisses, no matter if they are close friends or just acquaintances. Young people may kiss even upon the first meeting, especially if introduced by a mutual friend.
People always kiss to say hello, even every day, and often also to say good-bye. Women kiss everyone, men kiss women; men may kiss male friends or relatives, mostly in Southern France. The bise has almost replaced the verbal greeting. I've seen people kiss without saying bonjour ("good morning") or salut ("hello"). If you join a group, you must kiss everyone and here is the dilemma: how many kisses are to be exchanged? Well, there is no answer. The number can go from one to five (or more?) and varies from region to region but also from town to town, even within a town. In Bretagne, I noticed that people usually kissed twice or four times in one village, while in neighbouring villages the custom was only one kiss. A minor problem is: which cheek should be kissed first? It seems that in Northern France, people start kissing from the right cheek, while in Southern France they begin from the left cheek. However, this distinction is very simplified and it may not work very well. People also exchange one or more kisses during religious celebrations, when the priest says donnez-vous la paix ("exchange a sign of peace"). And, of course, the French kiss in the same other circumstances as other peoples kiss: to express wishes, feelings and so on. So, you see that it's very important not to forget this simple but problematic gesture.
In the coming posts, I will analyse the practice of the bise in many French locations where I have been, so that you can get a more precise idea about the complexity of this charming custom.

(This post was taken from my Virtual Tourist page about France, where the length is limited, so I may update it in the future.)

More about Italy (with my personal experience)

I would like to write again about kissing in Italy. I am a little afraid that someone may have got from my previous post the idea that Italians rarely kiss on the cheeks. No, that's false. For example, if you meet a close relative, you may kiss every day, even if much depends on the person. My mother's mum kiss me everytime we meet, while my father's parents are more reserved and don't kiss me much.
This has a reason: one day, when I was a child, I stopped accepting and giving cheek kisses. I couldn't even see two people kiss. This might have been a reaction against two many kisses (you know, the affectionate noisy kisses that grannies and aunts give to children). Anyway, I went on until 14 years without kissing anybody. Then, I understood this would have been a problem in my life, so I started kissing people on the cheeks. Well, I don't kiss so many people because I am rather shy and don't know many girls (I have never found it easy to kiss male friends; I just kiss my father, grandfather and sometimes my uncles, but not that often), but I enjoy this gesture.
Back to my previous post, when I say that we don't kiss at first meeting, this is the rule: anyway that may happen, but mostly among young people, as cheek kissing is not very widespread among aged people. Personally, when I meet a girl for the first time, I shake her hand or simply say "hello, nice to meet you".
Another point about greeting in Italy is when we join a group of people. We usually don't kiss everybody, unless we are real friends or haven't met for a long time, and, if there are a lot of people, we just greet verbally (Ciao, "Hello", or Buongiorno, "Good morning"). In other countries, by contrast, you are seen as impolite if you don't greet each one of the people you meet (either by kissing or by shaking hands).
The "kissing on the cheeks" topic is far more complicated than one would think, isn't it?
Feel free to leave comments to my posts and to write about customs in your country (even outside Europe).