Brittany wants to give ‘faire la bise’ the kiss-off
PARIS — Two pecks on the cheek are de rigueur, in Paris. Down south, three kisses are the norm, and east of the capital, four or even five may be in order.
However, a mysterious movement in Brittany has claimed that the fashion for multiple Gallic kisses — a gesture called “faire la bise” — has gone too far. A new association formed in Brest, France, has launched a Facebook campaign in defence of “the single kiss.”
The group GRUBUB, which stands for the “Group for the Rehabilitation of the Single Kiss,” said it was high time to sound the “alarm over the exponential growth of the double kiss.”
“In recent months and years this barbaric practice has taken a foothold in the city of Brest. It is difficult to know why, how and who is spreading this insidiously dangerous practice,” the group says on its website. “But it is not too late to react. Together we can reverse this trend.”
It urged defenders of the lone “bise” in Brest to spread word about their campaign and “to politely refuse the second kiss,” not an easy task and one that can cause offence.
In a tongue-in-cheek addition, the site insisted that guardians of the single kiss were “not reactionary or political, even if they know this is one of the most important issues of our time.”
A debate will be held in Brest on April 12 on the topic.
Regions in France have various, confusing customs when it comes to kissing, as a map created by Le Parisien newspaper recently demonstrated.
The majority of regions of France prefer two kisses, generally starting with the right cheek. But in eastern France and in parts of Provence, the left cheek comes first.
In the Massif Central, and in the southeastern departments of the Drôme, Hérault, Gard and Vaucluse as well as the Upper Alps, locals add an extra peck. And in areas of northern and western France, including Normandy, and some departments east of Paris the tradition is for four kisses.
The single kiss is particular to the department of Finistère, home to Brest, and Deux-Sevres in the Poitou-Charentes region.