I am indebted to this Times article for the final word on the minefield of business kissing. If it's three kisses for the Dutch, what do you say to a German who comes in for a third and quite inappropriate lunge?
Reading the paper from cover to cover while we sat for two hours on the tarmac at Heathrow waiting to fly to Nice for the EPCA, I eventually reached page 31 where I found this article on definitive Modern Manners.
According to Debrett's Guide for the Modern Gentleman, published last week: The social kiss: right cheek first, skin makes "brief, light contact."
What a relief. At last we can avoid the constant danger of head-butting each other as we head for the wrong cheeks.
Doesn't this all depend on the business you're in?