A Year in Provence

Yesterday in Sociocultural Studies we discussed an excerpt from Peter Mayle’s book, A Year in Provence (actually it was an excerpt from Une Anneé en Provence but no matter). Peter Mayle had written about his difficulty with the different French greetings that vary region to region. In particular he was struck by the different ways one could greet each other with the “faire la bise,” or kiss on the cheek. (This is not to be confused with “faire un bisou,” which is much more familiar and intimate; therefore, it is only used within one’s family. And "faire la bise" is not actually a kiss on the cheek, but a kiss to the air while your cheeks touch, but I digress.) Mayle wrote that this greeting was confusing to him because in some regions the women would give two kisses, while in others the women would give three kisses. Our teacher was thoroughly amused by this and acted out the action of going in for a third kiss when only two were required. As you can imagine, it looked terribly awkward and embarrassing.

I bring up the matter of “faire la bise” because I’m mostly unfamiliar with it. In the States I’ve only ever used this greeting with my French professor and occasionally my Polish relatives. My first encounter with this greeting in France was rather funny, in my opinion. I was sitting with some friends in a booth when this Frenchman comes up and proceeds to give everyone, including me who he’s never met before in his entire life, “faire la bise.” I really had no idea that men did the double air kiss thing until that moment (fyi The Maine and Loire Region is a double, not triple, kiss region). I learned afterwards that he is one of the local bartenders and that he speaks English with a very heavy Irish accent because he learned English in Ireland. I find this hilarious since he sounds more Irish than one of my friends from Ireland.

Since then I’ve become better accustomed to the “faire la bise” though still not completely comfortable with it. It’s much more affectionate than a handshake and because of that, I still find it very awkward. The French girls use it all the time, but then again, they’ve grown up with it. I’ve decided that when I finish my adventure in France, I must read A Year in Provence.

Bisous!

Heidi