French etiquette: 'To kiss or not to kiss'? That is the question Miss Graham, our headmistress in the 1950s, frowned upon what she called PDAs: public displays of affection. PDAs are ubiquitous here, in the form of kissing and vigorous handshaking and even hugging - in the street, in the doctor's waiting room, in the supermarket. Miss Graham would shudder, but when I meet Pierre and Nicole in Aldi, la bise as an expression of mutual respect and affection rules OK. My advice is go with the flow - and remember next time you meet that person. My extrovert friend Gigi delivers quadruple bises accompanied by a hug, whereas Simone, an equally dear friend but older and more reserved, does two, with no body contact. La bise says "hello" and "goodbye." My cleaning lady Yvonne and I exchange kisses when she arrives for work and again when she leaves. Dionne Warwick sang: What do you get when you kiss a guy? You get enough germs to catch pneumonia After you do, he'll never phone ya I'll never fall in love again. In my experience, la bise does not spread contagion. To give an extreme example, the Bazolles oldies' club meets monthly and any woman with a birthday during that month faces what to many Brits would be Ordeal by Kissing. All 50 members claim their osculatory rights. If the lady is at all personable, several sprightly old buffers will queue up twice for the privilege. Amazingly, however, I have had just one cold since we arrived here in 2005. Maybe I had a natural immunity when we settled. My theory, however, is that the absence of mouth-to-mouth contact explains this. And now to Charity Cottage, our home from home in the Morvan. Telegraph Expat readers may have read last year how we converted the old ruin in our garden into a holiday cottage and suggested visitors donate to the veterans' charity Combat Stress. Several visitors have come and gone and Combat Stress has benefited accordingly. Although the Morvan has something for everyone, the gentle pace, friendliness and sheer unspoilt beauty of this region seem to suit anyone in need of R and R. We are, however, a long way from Blighty, travel is not cheap and not everyone can afford to make the journey. So I got in touch with SSAFA (the Soldiers' Sailors' and Airmen's Families Association), and the Royal British Legion. I told them about Charity Cottage and they kindly agreed to consider any request for help with travel costs on its individual merits. So there we were, looking forward to the 2013 season, when I clicked on the Telegraph Expat website - and found that Charity Cottage had won the British Charity category of Best of British!