Gros Bisous!

Bisou means kiss in English. Gros bisous means big kisses. The French are all up in their kisses. I love that! Men and women alike, when you greet a friend, you give them a kiss on each cheek—mwah, mwah! In some parts of France they greet one another with three bisous, in others four. Whew! Thank goodness I’m in Lyon where its only two.

You give bisous to say hello, you give bisous to say good-bye. When you go to a dinner party and you are one of the last to arrive, conversation comes to a halt, everyone gets up and the room is suddenly full of teeny little squelching noises as you do the rounds and greet everyone with bisous.

You can use bisous on the phone when saying good-bye. The standard procedure is to actually say good-bye for about two minutes and then end all the procrastinating with a quick “Okay, ciao, bisou!”

When I first moved to France eight years ago, my son was five years old. My mother-in-law did what any French mother-in-law would do; she promptly invited all of her friends to come over and see the kids. I imagined what it must have been like for my young son to have all of these French ladies dressed to the nines, lined up and just dying to see him. They towered over him and bent down with their lips all done up in bright red lipstick, grabbed his cheeks and screeched, “Oh, qu’il est migon! Oh, bisou, bisou, bisou!” (Translation, “Oh he is so cute! Oh, kissey, kissey, kissey!”) Ahem, my son had rather an aversion to bisous for rather a long time.

Sometimes I miss good old American hugs. They don’t do that here. But I will admit that I have grown fond of bisous. And I believe that the world could use a whole lot more. So spread the love, baby, and give as many bisous to as many people as you can!

À demain,

Love,

Charley