The best cheese in Paris

Customers stop into La Crèmerie for the company as much as for the great cheeses. Shop owner Dominique used to be a nurse so is a past master at cheerful chat (and watching calorie counts). French cheeses are her speciality, from a colourful wheel of wildflower Tomme from the Austrian Alps to Black Brie from Île de France, Saint-Félicien from Isère, small goats cheeses... 

Fromagerie Beaufils offers more than just great quality cheese in a friendly environment. The team behind the shop regularly visits suppliers and video-documents the cheese-making process, from udder to manufacture. They also age selected cheeses in a cellar beneath their shop on the Rue de Belleville. The selection shows an appetite for international flavours... 

Set on the cobbled Rue Montorgueil among quaint bakeries, bookshops, teashops and cafés, this busy family-owned cheese shop has been around for over 20 years. The orange shop front with its pinstriped awning boasts a tray of cheeses at €9 for five, while inside is a huge selection – the owners have a soft spot for sheep and goat cheeses, but there are plenty of... 

Hay, flowers, balsamic vinegar, truffle, spices and Irish port are just a few of the unexpected cheese ingredients you’ll find chez Laurent Dubois. Awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (a prestigious artisan’s award) in 2000, Dubois is known for selecting only the crème de la crème of cheeses, and is no amateur when it comes to experimentation. His fragrant little boutique... 

Charmingly cheeky cheesemongers Christian and Jean-Daniel are the most unconventional pair of shopkeepers you’re ever likely to meet. They set up their cheese shop to be able to listen to music of their choice all day while selling rounds to customers – or so the story goes. The end result is a unique and intriguing business – and it’s doing well. Fromages et Ramage offers cheese in all shapes, sizes and intensities, from classic hard wheels to smoked sheep and goat’s cheeses... 

Marie Quatrehomme, the first woman to win the coveted Meilleur Ouvrier de France title, runs this charmingly cramped, stone-walled cheese boutique. Justly famous for her beaufort and st-marcellin, she also sells specialities such as goat's cheese with pesto. Unlike many French fromagers, Marie respects the cheese of other countries, including a hard-to-find hit of crumbly English cheddar.