You talk the talk if you want to... I mostly listen as the conversation can be fast at times and thus hard to follow after a few minutes even though the accent of this region is perfect French... that spoken by the Kings and Queens because they chose to live in their chateaux along the Loire and its tributaries, rather than in Paris, during the hot summers.

When I was introduced to an estate agent here in France a few years ago the attractive petite assistant shook my hand so vigourously my arm felt as though it would fall off at the shoulder. "How English," I blurted politely at her enthusiastic welcome... the grip tightened as she retorted, "Monsieur, you will find that the 'andshake is much more of a French tradition!" She was right... and a once gentlemanly custom that was commonplace in England of old but largely ignored nowadays is absolutely upheld here and in much of the rest of Europe at all times. I probably shake hands with two dozen people on a day when I am in town... and exchange four kisses with hopefully another half-a-dozen women in the street and behind shop counters... although some slightly more reserved ladies of a certain age exchange only deux bissous... mind you, some others of that certain age (which is also around my age) can be very enthusiastic!

You can't pass the road-sweeper doing his job without a cordial greeting - you wouldn't want to anyway - he and anyone from the boulanger to the garagiste similarly engaged in a hands-dirty trade will offer their elbow which you simply touch in greeting whilst exchanging the time of day and a ça va... or "How goes it?" Anyone with both hands full of shopping will struggle to proffer one of their little fingers which you lightly pinch between your forefinger and thumb. The only awkward occurrences happen when you are a spectacles wearer and greet a woman similarly equipped... kisses on the cheeks can become a clash and rattle of glasses or a poke in the eye if you're not careful.