hikrchick

Hi everyone,
Hikrguy and I are going for a much-awaited week in Paris in mid-October. His first time, and I haven't been since 1986, so we are excited. The plan for the trip is walk and eat and walk and eat and sit in a park and eat. You get the idea. One thing we have been talking about is doing an informal cheese tasting at a fromagerie.

Those who are familiar with Paris and fromageries ;-) can you suggest a small-ish, non-frenetic shop where we could bumble along in baby French and taste-- and buy of course! -- some lovely cheeses?

We live just outside of NYC so we are very familiar with using public transportation; lovely shop/friendly employees more important than somewhere we can get to in 7 minutes from our hotel.

--- and before you ask, "where is your hotel? how can we tell you where to go?": we are staying in the Bastille/Marais Citadines (don't ask me exactly where, life is so hectic right now and I know we have a room so it doesn't matter the location right this second 8-) ....)


thank you!

WoinParis

You'll have a great time.
I checked your location : you are on boulevard Lenoir, close to Bastille and close to place des Vosges. It is a very nice area. (center east of Paris).
I have never been to a fromagerie in Paris so can't help on this BUT :

At Santa Carne, close to Bastille (tournelles, 24) you have an argentinian restuarant which offers great meat and a 'provolone' that, as everyone (and me since 6 months) knows is a cheese that is served hot. Fabulous.

I also recommend Pain Vin Fromage (rue G Langevin in the 4th) where you can have 'fondues savoyardes' - liquid cheese in whihc you dip bread or whatever.

Nothing related to cheese but I loved (le chat ivre' (drunk cat) rue Talllandiers, superb small place, good wine etc.

You have a street market on Bd Lenoir on thursday morning(at least that day).

Kathie

I found myself thinking of a wonderful fromagerie we saw when we were in Paris - no idea of the name. But if you just wander around a bit you'll find plenty of great places to sample cheeses.

Christina

I've been to various fromageries when staying in Paris a while and they all usually will let you taste something, but it sounds like you are asking for a course or tasting menu, because you aren't familiar with French cheeses and want to taste a whole variety in order to decide what to buy? That's a little different. Is that correct, you don't want just a little taste of one but want to taste a lot and learn about them?

I usually stay in Montparnasse so know several there as there is one about every couple of blocks, but I don't usually stay in the 11th.

I don't think you want to carry cheese around all day, though, and there are so many that you can definitely find one near your place.

Try l'Univers du Fromage at 16 rue Chanzy, I think they are good with non-French speakers and are interested in new customers. They have a Facebook page that is advertising degustations, for example, check out the ambience if you want
https://www.facebook.com/luniversdufromage.fr/

You might check out Autour du Fromage, a neighborhood one in Charonne, I found this article about it as I don't think they have a website, it's at 120 rue Charonne
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyl...qhL/story.html

ducinaltum

I'm replying because

a) I'm also interested in others' responses as I'm going back to Paris and live for cheese and

b) while I don't have a tasting-menu-sort-of-fromagerie recommendation, I do have a fromagerie that I would highly encourage you to visit if you're in the vicinity of the d'Orsay: Androuet. One of the oldest shops and I had a delightful experience there, with recommendations for various cheeses to purchase.

spaarne

<i> Paris fromagerie for tastings?
Posted by: hikrchick on Sep 16, 16 at 4:11pm</i>

According to one "authority" there are 452 official cheeses in France. Ref: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3W5oAOZAWY. Great film.

Since the plateau &agrave; fromage is usually offered as an alternative to desert in many French restaurants, you should be able to order just that. With a basket of bread and a bottle of vin rouge you are all set. I did this once, in Tyrol when traveling with my Austrian aunt. I ordered the cheese board at lunch. The waitress brought out a large platter of various cheeses, put it on the table, and let me help myself. I took about an ounce of a few of them. Before we left Aunt Ida scooped up all the rest and put the lot in her purse. I was shocked. We had cheeses for a week. That was probably the last time that waitress left the platter on the table. In France the waiter always stands there with the platter in his hand and cuts off small pieces of whatever you wish, and never leaves the platter on the table.

WoinParis

I am shocked ! And I have a feeling that traveling with Aunt Ida must be quite an experience ;-)

Ps : the real French takes the dessert AND the cheese.

See below : 'a meal without dessert is like a one-eyed striking lady'. Dating from 1825 ! The French have always liked eating.

Un repas sans fromage est une belle à qui il manque un oeil.
Physiologie du goût (1825)

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Références de Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Read more at http://dicocitations.lemonde.fr/cita...gqH971gkLxT.99

swandav2000

Hi hikrchick,

Not sure if you want something this organized . . . but you might want to think about a cheese "class" or "tour," or cheese-wine pairing "class."

I've done two of these classes with Paris by Mouth, but other outfits offer similar things. The one I did with PbM was two hours long and included about 9 different cheeses, each paired with a wine. The guide/instructor would talk about each cheese, from animal of origin, to terroir, to aging process. It was wonderfully informative . . as well as incredibly delicious. It really helped me understand a bit about the variety of cheeses available, and of course what could be bad about tasting cheese for two hours . . .??

I just checked their website, and it appears to be down right now. Their page at Facebook hasn't been updated since August. Not sure if they are reorganizing or what.

Anyway -- have fun as you plan!

s

nukesafe

I was going to suggest Paris by Mouth, as well, as we did the cheese and wine tour two years and had a marvelous and educational time. We met at a lovely fromagerie and were allowed to pick our favorites to taste if we had one. We then adjourned to a wine shop where we took over the back room for our orgy.

BTW, our all time favorite is Epoisses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89...s_de_Bourgogne When it is soft, runny, very smelly, on a bit of crusty baguette, followed by a sip of soft Burgundy ---

I'm drooling on my keyboard.

fuzzbucket

If you walk into a good fromagerie, you might be given a few slivers of cheese to taste, but that's all. I don't know of any shops which do tastings - basically, shops are too small and the vendors are concerned with moving as much cheese as possible in the short period of time they have.

If you go to rue Saint-Antoine in the 4eme arrondissement, there are two fromageries which will give you good advice and assemble cheese trays that you can take home to enjoy - best not to go around lunch or right before they close, though:
Laurent Dubois - 97 rue Saint-Antoine
Beillevaire - 77 rue Saint-Antoine

I've also been on ParisByMouth's cheese tour and can recommend it as an excellent experience. You'll learn a lot more than whatever the vendor can explain to you.

WoinParis

@ Nuke
My keyboard is under saliva too because of you.
Epoisses is one of my favourites. And why did you feel mandatory to mention a good Bourgogne ?

@ all
If you want to eat cheese in the morning I recommend this sequence from 'Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis' (the french movie that made the most entries) where the guy with a suit (Kad Merad), coming from the south discovers the 'maroilles' eaten with a café... I was born in maroilles country orclose and I can't eat it - stinks (not smells) way toooooo much. But some will say it is a must.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4i...-ti_shortfilms

jubilada

Many years ago we did a many course degustation at Androuet(sp?) in the 8me, I think. It was marvelous. We had read about it in Food Lovers Guide.

StCirq

A small footnote about the French and cheese: We were at the market in Le Bugue last Tuesday and stopped for a coffee at the bar in town at the entrance to the market where all the young people, rugby players, bikers, and gamblers hang out. Market ends at about noon, and these folks tend to congregate at this bar and spend most of the afternoon there. At the long table next to us were about 12 men and women in their 20s-30s. One guy kept looking at his watch. It was a blazing hot day. After about a half-hour, long before any of his copains would be leaving, he stood up and announced "Sorry, guys, I have to leave early today. I have cheese that needs to getout of the heat to a cool place quickly."

Priorities, y'know?

denisea

Highly recommend Paris by Mouth. We took the St Germain tour that began at Androuet...wonderful cheeses and we learned a lot.

I also love Lauent Dubois in the 5th and I think Paris by Mouth starts their tour in the 5th there.

Take a look at David Lebowitz' list

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/cheese-...ours-in-paris/

Kathie

What great resources here. I'm ready for our next Paris trip!

hikrchick

holy cow, you're all making me hungry!

so, yes, Christina, exactly: what we would be thrilled with is kind of a little cheese class.

last summer we were in the French Alps and I discovered my most favorite French cheese: Beaufort. I loved the 18 months. I also didn't mind the 12 months, and the very young one was good too Our guide picked up all of these from the cheesemaker at his cave and for lunch that day we sat in a meadow and all had a cheese tasting with wine. (The French really know how to do long-distance hiking!) It was nice to have a vertical tasting like that to see how time and cellaring changes the cheese. (side note, I came back to NYC and almost choked when I found only one place with Beaufort, and it's $45 a pound...)

ducinaltum, that shop sounds wonderful and we will put it on the list for sure, thank you!

Everyone who suggested Paris by Mouth, I think that sounds wonderful!

Denisea, I love David Lebovitz's blog but didn't know he had this post. Thanks!

for extra points, does anyone know, is it possible to buy cheese in a fromagerie and take it back on the plane, or is it better to buy it in CDG where it's been wrapped/inspected for flight? Plus, if I buy it in a fromagerie, I would imagine putting it in checked luggage where the cargo hold is cold would be better for the cheese?

WoinParis

Don't buy cheese at CDG.

spaarne

<i>hikrchick on Sep 17, 16 at 3:24pm
for extra points, does anyone know, is it possible to buy cheese in a fromagerie and take it back on the plane, </i>

I'll take those points, thank you.
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...r-personal-use

But don't overdo it.
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-m...esa-port-entry

I've brought back Dutch cheese many times with no questions asked. You just declare it. Then the customs inspector will mark A, for Agriculture, on your declaration and direct you to another line.

I guess the sniffer dogs will have a new experience with some of those French cheeses.

WoinParis

Dutch cheese... tsss. we are talking about cheese here.

HappyTrvlr

.Make sure you taste some Epoisses; you'll be hooked!