The Frenchies don't hug, they kiss !

When in France, don't try hugging, french people kiss, they don't hug.

You might think because they kiss this means they are social... mais non, they find hugging personal, just as we find kissing.

Do you know how many people i kiss everyday? After kissing my husband goodbye every morning, i have to kiss my friend Fabrice, we go to the campus together in his car. Then once on campus, i have to kiss everyone twice on the cheek, sometimes trice. I still have to kiss everyone goodbye at the end of the day. In France, kissing your friends goodbye is as important as kissing them good morning. It's rude to simply say bye or wave.

Hollande & the mother of his 5 children share kisses
Photo credit : who-when-where-photo.blog.leparisien.fr

 The only time i am not kissing someone is when the person annouces that he/she has got cold. Once i got to class late cos i had an appointment at the hospital that morning. On arriving, i was so tired that i just couldn't start to kiss everyone, so i had to joke about it to skip it. I got into the class said bonjour and started counting "1, 2, 3..." then i said "Merde 12 people present, 12 multiplied by 2, that's 24 kisses. Where do i start?" They all burst into laughter so i blew a kiss and went to my desk. But that didn't mean i totally escaped kissing that day, cos some still kissed me during break

If you’re entering or leaving a group, you have no choice but to go around to each person and kiss him or her individually

In France, girls kiss both guys and girls upon meeting. Two kisses, which generally involves touching cheeks but kissing the air near the other person’s ear, once on each cheek.  In Paris, they kiss three times and up to four in northern France.

I sometimes get three to four kisses, it means the person is happy to see me. In my husband's family, it's the tradition to kiss family members three times, this custom is common in southern france.

Guys normally kiss girls only, they kiss guys generally only if it's a close friend, a family member or someone they haven't seen in a while. Guys mostly shake hands: a firm, strong handshake, looking into the eyes. If you are not familiar enough share a kiss with someone, you may cover your handshake with your other hand.

Women shake hands in formal settings or in informal settings, if they are meeting for the first time. The next they meet, they share kiss. For example, at a party, you kiss people you already know and shake hands with people you just meet. When you are leaving, you share a goodbye kiss with everyone because you are all now friends.

Sometimes, i meet people for the first time and want to share a hand shake when we get introduce then i hear "on se fait la bise?" which means "can we kiss?", then we share kisses. I know already that the person really like me...

French people don't do big bear hugs, moving close to hug, is getting too personal. You are going to shock the person who isn't expecting it. Kissing is part of the frenchies way of life. Fortunately most french people don't have mouth odour, they either smell of coffee, cigarette or perfum. They always put perfums behind their ears or on the neck...

Une accolade entre François Hollande & Jacques Chirac
Crédits photo : photo.gala.fr

Behave like the Frenchies when you are in France ! Wink wink :)