French Kisses

When I first started to hang around French people and Europeans in general, I had to get used to the cultural issue of kissing as a way of greeting. See, I'm from Detroit and we just don't do that....especially guys! Well, get over it, big boy. Now I kiss everyone. I live in the region west of Bordeaux, the Dordogne. Here, most people kiss twice, but I live in the northeastern part of the region on the border with the Correze, so depending on the social situation and the person I am greeting, It can be 2, 3 or 4 bissous...I find it is a great equalizer. Perhaps that is the social function of the bissou. I have a buddy I work with who is a massive aging macho rugby player. When we first started working together, he was amazed that I was this skinny American dude who was doing the same intense physical job he was. He started calling me Monsieur Cachouette...That's Mister peanut...after a few days, I told him that every time he referred to me as Monsieur Cachouette, I was going to give him a big sloppy kiss. Now he calls me Stanley and I call him Ollie.............