Holidaymakers do not need to look hard to find cheese in France. It tends to find them — in the market, at a wine bar and before and after dessert at many dining tables. Cheese is a way of life for the French and nothing, except perhaps wine, stirs regional pride like the pong of a local fromage.

The average citizen eats 24kg of the product a year and has plenty of choice. There are more than 1,000 French cheeses, ranging from the industrially produced slabs in the hypermarkets to the artisan rounds made with unpasteurised milk and sold at the farm gate.

Only 56 cheeses are protected under law, the majority classified as Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, indicating that a cheese has been made in the same manner and place for many years.

Like wine, with its designated wine routes and vineyards, cheese provides a great theme to explore the country. It is an excuse to visit farms and markets to engage with producers, who like nothing better than to rhapsodise about the terroir — how the soil affects the pasture for the animals who produce the milk that makes the cheeses — and to grumble about the red tape around cheesemaking and share a wine tip or two.

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“French cheesemakers have an almost religious faith in tradition and follow tried and trusted recipes,” says Patricia Michelson, the owner of London’s La Fromagerie cheese shops.

“The sheer range of weather patterns, from the cool north to the hot south, produces an amazing variety of styles, textures and flavours of cheeses that no other European country can match.” The Loire, for example, has amazing goat’s cheeses and crisp white wines, lush Normandy has creamy Camembert and cider and Provence matches strong, spicy cheeses with chilled rosé.

Every region sells its typical cheeses in the town’s crémerie or fromagerie, as well as at its weekly markets. Even the big supermarkets, such as Carrefour, have a regional counter supporting local suppliers.

“Shop like the locals — twice a day — buying a little cheese often each time you pick up a fresh baguette,” advises Michelson. She has another tip: “Ask what cheese is in season.

This way you will be able to taste something very fresh and then pair it with something with a little more age like a Gruyère or a blue.” Come full summer, look out for goat’s cheeses, soft ewe’s cheeses, Ossau, Fourme d’Ambert and Persillé du Marais.

“Cheese is made by the people for the people,” says Eric Charriaux, who spends part of the year sourcing quality French cheeses for La Cave à Fromage in London. “The best cheeses use a rennet naturally produced by animals and unpasteurised milk from the neighbourhood farm with its bacteria and nutrients intact.”

Charriaux points out that artisan cheeses, made by a young generation of cheesemakers who tend to bypass the established rules, only account for a small percentage of the total market.

British cheeses have performed particularly well in international competitions in recent years. But dare to ask a connoisseur if the British are now making better cheeses than the French, and the answer, says Charriaux, is a resounding “non”.

Seven for the board

Patricia Michelson advises choosing five to seven cheeses for a classic cheeseboard, all made with unpasteurised milk and not pre-packed in plastic. Eat in the following order.

Crottin de Chavignol from the Loire — a small crumbly goat’s cheese with a light, earthy taste and a lemon tang.

Cantal Laguiole from Auvergne — also crumbly; a Cheshire-style cow’s milk hard cheese but richer and more buttery. A savoury bite.

Camembert from Normandy — squeeze the sides not the top to find out whether it is ripe. It should smell of wild mushrooms. Coeur de Neufchâtel from Normandy — this white-coated heart-shaped goat’s cheese is in peak condition when its centre is crumbly and the edges melting.

Beaufort Chalet d’Alpage — a Gruyère style from Savoie with a floral aroma and nutty savoury-sweet taste. It is made with summer milk from cattle grazing on mountain pastures and is matured for at least a year.

Epoisses — a washed rind soft cow’s milk cheese from Burgundy. The pungent aroma masks a rich and mellow tasting cheese that is irresistible.

Roquefort Carles — this ewe’s milk deeply veined blue cheese is aged in the Cambaloucaves and has a rich and spicy flavour.

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