Almost French re-visited, Ce que pensent les hommes

Previously talking about 'Almost French'...

I decided to read 'Almost French' again and re-live all of Sarah's experiences with her. Only a few pages into the book she wrote:

"...We can't even communicate, for god's sake, I'd thought. What are we going to talk about for a whole week? At the end of ten excruciating minutes I'd said goodbye and he'd said, 'I kiss you,' which made me cringe. What a sleaze! Had I paid more attention during French classes at school I might have remembered that in France this is the sort of farewell you could say to your sister or grandmother but all I can think now is how weird it sounded..."

I almost laughed out loud because the first French guy I met (C), we had only met once and we had only exchanged a handful of emails.. he signed his email with 'bisous' which means 'kisses'. I was quite shocked and surprised when I first saw this but didn't think too much of it.

I guess on one hand it could be interpreted as being sleazy but I didn't take it that way at all. I just thought it was funny and sweet. And what's even funnier is that I wouldn't know of a single Australian (or Anglo) guy who would sign off his emails like that... it would be the equivalent of signing off with 'xxx' or 'xoxo' I guess (which I do myself sometimes, with close friends)... I couldn't imagine a guy who barely knew you doing this until you were already dating each other and were exclusive. Does it really mean that French men are more open with their feelings and/or more romantic? I can't say I'm qualified to judge but we shall see...

Now I don't have any sort of romantic connection with these guys so I wonder if it's just an ordinary every day thing they do to everyone and that French people don't make a big deal out of it like 'we' do.

A couple of months ago I was looking up something... can't remember what... I think it must've been around the time I saw the film 'He's just not into you' (which is called 'Ce que pensent les hommes' (What men think) in French) and I found this interesting series of videos by Liz Tuccillo (who is one of the authors of the book the movie was based on).

In this particular video she is interviewing (through an interpreter) two young men on the streets of Paris who I assume are in their early 20s and talk about dating and love. I think the interview is quite fun(ny) to watch!



Your tango - other videos in the 'Single in France' series.