I've learned after living in Paris, France for 7 years now that the french has a number of different words for "kiss," which can be confusing for foreigners. The kind of kiss I'm referring to are the platonic ones exchanged between friends, families, and colleagues. It is an important and ritualistic gesture for all first immediate encounters, even in most workplaces. Note: Not to mention that they have over 40 different kinds of kisses, as Kristoffer Nyrop noted in his book The Kiss and its History. But let's not get sidetracked here!
The most widely used terms are bise and bisou, and while they are both informal with similar meanings and uses, they're not quite the same! Une Bise is a kiss on each side of the cheek as a gesture of friendship, used for hellos or goodbyes between friends or acquaintances. This version is often also used to sign off at the end of a letter and in the expression 'faire la bise'. Whereas Bisou has a more familiar tone, is a warmer, more playful version – referring to a kiss on the cheek or on the lips! Bisous(plural) can say good-bye to a good friends or families as well used to end a conversation on the phone often repetitively to emphasise closeness, love or warmth! Bisou bisou! Gros bisou!
Quickly jumping off to the topic of rings now....how much has the meaning of rings changed today in our community? Did you know that unlike in the medieval period and up until the present in some religion and high-class society that rank was often signified by the wearing of a ring – one would even kiss a person's ring to show submission to authority, quite the contrary to our contemporary setting today! It is thanks to the breakdown of the class system in majority of our population today, we all have the right to; regardless of age or class, own and wear a ring.
I leave you with these 2 thoughts and some pictures of my latest fruition.
Available now at www.minicynbijoux.com
Thank you & bisous a tout le monde x
