"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.)

Kissing in Italy

Since I am Italian, I will start with a post about the kissing practice in my country.
Although Italians are a Latin people, our kissing habit is a little different from that of the French, Spaniards, Portuguese or other peoples. This is certainly due to the cultural fragmentation of Italy. We became a united state in 1861, but we have never been (and probably we will never be) a united nation, whereas France, Spain, Portugal have been a nation for some centuries, so all French people have a common background, which is not true in Italy. Having been dominated by other peoples until 150 years ago has prevented us from forming a national identity.
So, coming back to the cheek-kissing, we usually (or mostly) exchange two kisses, starting from the left cheek (so from our right) and moving to the right cheek. This is the standard kissing custom. However, in Northern Italy, where I live, it is becoming more and more usual to add a third kiss (back to the first cheek, not on the mouth!). This may be a French influence, but I'm not sure. I don't know if the third kiss is also spreading across Southern Italy, because I have never been there.
However, what makes us quite different from our Latin cousins is the frequency of this gesture.
If we meet a person every day, even if it is a friend or someone we like, we don't kiss every day, but only on some circumstances. Moreover, if we are first introduced to a mutual friend, kissing on the cheek is not the rule (although it can be done).
In Italy women kiss both women and men, men kiss women but they can also kiss other men if they are relatives or good friends (or gays, ok!). Another difference between us and other Latins: here it is not at all impolite or rude to shake a woman's hand, for example when meeting for the first time. A woman can also shake another woman's hand, also in informal context. Instead, in Spain or France a woman always must kiss both men and women and shaking hands is considered as cold (I'm always talking about informal context; of course, when doing business or at work women can shake hands in those countries, too).
Well, I think this can be all about Italy for now.