Le Musée du Fromage Opens in Paris

Cheese map at Le Musée du Fromage photo credit Anna Mindess

Mooo-ve over, Mona Lisa, there is another must-see attraction in Paris! Le Musée du Fromage, a museum celebrating the world of French cheeses opened in June 2024. It’s housed in a stately 17th century stone edifice located on the historic Île Saint-Louis. Looking at the sign above the entrance, another word jumps out, “vivant,” which translates as “living,” to emphasize that this is not a dusty old museum full of ancient cheese crumbs, but an exploration of the vibrant world of more than a thousand French cheeses, plus hopefully an inspiration to French youngsters to consider professions in this area.

How the French Enjoy Cheese

When you enter the interactive gallery, several exhibits aim to playfully expand your cheese knowledge. There are old videos of cheesemaking and aged “cheesy” TV commercials. One shows a dozen French people each responding to the question of their favorite kind of cheese with a different answer. The tagline at the end is, “To make more than one person happy, offer more than one kind of cheese.”

The room is ringed with several interactive activities. There is a board on which to explore France’s cheese-centered terroir and a game to find out your “cheese personality.” (This writer discovered she was Sainte-Maure de Touraine, “a little log of ash-colored goat cheese,” with “a multitude of treasures inside.”) (All exhibits are accessible in both French and English).

A Guided Tour Included

Museum exhibits at Le Musée du Fromage photo credit Anna Mindess

Then you move into the next room for an hour’s tour with either a French or English-speaking guide. Our guide, Paul, started with an enagaging discussion of cheese history from pre-historic times. Did you know that the Cyclops in Homer’s Odyssey was a cheese maker? We learned how the French revolution broadened the classes of people who could enjoy what was once a luxury only for the upper class, the influence of Louis Pasteur and the role of bacteria. This led to a discussion of what exactly cheeses are made of, with the help of more videos.

Enter the Cheesemaker

Cheese making demo at Le Musée du Fromage photo credit Anna Mindess

At this point, cheesemaker, Achille, stepped in to show us how he cooks the milk for cheese in a large copper bowl. (Depending on the time of day of your tour, you may see different aspects of the progression, from pouring the milk into molds to cutting the cheese).

How Much Do You Know About Cheese?

The magic wall of cheese making at Le Musée du Fromage photo credit Anna Mindess

More interactive exhibits around the room expanded on an array of topics from “What makes a cheese of quality?” to which animals’ milk can be used to make cheese (hint: it’s more than just cows, goats, and sheep.) Paul led us through another visual display of the steps involved in making a variety of cheeses. We ended the hour with samples of three different cheeses. On the way out, we were invited to peruse, and perhaps purchase from more than 100 different cheeses for sale in the cheese case.

The Making of a Modern Museum

Pierre Brisson, who spear-headed this project along with Paroles des Fromagers, a cheese shop and cheese school he founded, had been dreaming of making this project a reality for 15 years, looking for a building in which to house this museum that promotes tasting, education, and appreciation of French cheese. But it took one of France’s infamous strikes, when the road on which he usually biked was closed, for him to come across this impressive stone structure, which dates to 1639, with a “for rent” sign.

He also discovered that before the island was named to honor the French King Louis IX in 1267, it was a quiet little spot, called Île de Vaches (Island of Cows), which couldn’t be more fitting.

Info on cheese professions at Le Musée du Fromage photo credit Anna Mindess

As for why a "living" museum, Brisson shares that many museums may seem like repositories of history, but he wants to emphasize that cheesemaking is a living art in France. “The goal is to show the beauty and diversity in the fabrication of cheeses all over France and hopefully plant a seed that will inspire young visitors to enter one of the related professions.”

Brisson sees this as the biggest problem facing the appreciation of the traditional art of cheesemaking. “If you ask young people where cheese comes from today,” he said, “they will immediately answer, ‘the supermarket.’” He hopes his museum will change that. To that end, a big part of the plan is to have school groups tour the museum. While there is a large demand for workers with the necessary technical knowledge in the various aspects of cheesemaking, young people are not familiar with this profession.

One interactive exhibit focuses exactly on this issue: viewers can specify if they are interested in learning more about the cheese professions, such as animal breeder, cheesemaker and cheesemonger. And if so, they can be led to specific training programs in each area.

Brisson started working in wine, and when he moved to Paris, he found that while wine had a great deal of focus and pedagogy available, there was virtually none for cheese. That inspired him to form Paroles des Fromagers, which combines a cheese shop with an array of courses and trainings, such as one in cheese and wine pairing we previously covered. He has been dreaming of this museum as an extension of that aim for 15 years. He did not receive any monetary support from the city of Paris for this endeavor but used his savings, as well as a crowd-funding campaign.

In a country where the average French citizen is estimated to consume over 50 pounds of cheese a year, it is fitting to have a living museum to honor the beauty and diversity of that tradition and hopefully contribute to ensuring its future.