Regarding cheese, we always remember the famous phrase of General Charles de Gaulle, who, with his usual irony, said that a country like France, with 258 varieties of this product, was inevitably “ungovernable.” The admired statesman would be very proud, however, that in the heart of Paris this June, on the eve of the Olympic Games, the first museum dedicated entirely to French cheese of all types will be inaugurated.
It has not yet been clarified, by the way, whether De Gaulle spoke of 258 varieties or gave another figure. Nobody recorded his words and later he became a bit of a legend with his boutade. Does not matter. The truth is that the general was wrong in the figure because he fell short. “Nowadays there are many more than then and the country is even more ungovernable,” joked Pierre Brisson, promoter of the new museum, in a conversation with La Vanguardia.
Brisson runs Paroles de fromagers, a school to train professional cheesemakers. It has been fifteen years since she devised the museum project, completely private, which has so far required an investment of 1.5 million euros, partly thanks to small donations through crowdfunding.
The new museum will be located on the Island of St. Louis, between two branches of the Seine, very close to the Notre Dame Cathedral, an ideal location in theory to attract visitors. There are already several small museums in France dedicated to cheese, but always about local varieties such as Comté or Brie. “This is the first museum that valorizes the entire cheese heritage,” Brisson stressed.
To talk about cheese in France is to go beyond the characteristics of the product and its preparation. It is a cultural aspect, a way of life or, rather, an art and a joy of living, joie de vivre. The Parisian museum, on a 300-square-meter surface that occupied a former restaurant, Nos ancêtres Les Gaulois, will include an exhibition gallery and an interactive space. The history and culture of cheese, its origins and manufacturing methods will be explained in multimedia presentations. There will be pedagogical workshops in which courses will be taught. During opening hours, a professional will make cheeses on site. There is, of course, a tasting of the product and a store.
In addition to highlighting regional heritage in the case of cheese, the museum aims, according to Brisson, to attract young people to the cheesemaking profession. As in other sectors, such as bakers, there is a lack of skilled labor.
If all goes according to plan, the museum will open on June 3, just three days before the big celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, and just a few weeks before the opening of the Olympic Games. The logo reproduces the Eiffel Tower, behind which two cows poke their heads out.
