Faire la bise
By Juliette Martel

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Kissing strangers, awkward? Welcome to Paris!

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In Paris, we don’t think kissing strangers is awkward. But hugging someone you’ve never met before: yurk! Never!

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If you live in Paris, you are probably already familiar with “la bise”, which is kissing someone on each cheek when you meet him or her.

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If you are a girl, you fais la bise to every friend of yours when meeting them. If you are a guy, you fais la bise to every female friend of yours but not to your male friends (well, sometimes you do, but less often).

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The bise is a way to say hello but also to say goodbye, which means you happen to faire la bise ten or twenty times a day. Did I forgot to mention this? It’s not only with your friends. It’s also with your friends’ friends, with members of your family (even your parents), with your colleagues at work, maybe even with your boss… Basically everyone.

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Oh, and consider yourself lucky. In Paris we only do 2 bises (one on each cheek) but in other parts of France it can be 3 or even 4. Social relationships can take a lot of time there. What is a bit weird is when people from different parts of France meet: it might be a bit embarrassing when they go for a third one and you already stepped back. Then you both laugh and add a bise and try to do it on the right side because if not, it becomes even more embarrassing when you end up kissing the other person’s lips instead of cheek.

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La bise is a basic part of social interactions, but it can be adapted to te context. For example, you can only do one kiss to your mom: when you kiss people twice, it’s a social rule, but if you only give one kiss, it is a real kiss, proof of affection. Or you can both hug and kiss your closest friends or the ones you haven’t seen for a long time.

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There is a lot of ways of faire la bise and we let you try and make your own experience! Don’t forget to share your best or worst moments in Your Stories, we can’t wait to hear them. Good luck!

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