My family and I recently went on a road trip in the province of Quebec. I have lived in the Montreal area for many years now and I’ve been on road trips before, but I’ve never stopped at a fromagerie. I have seen signs on the road announcing their presence all over the place, and I’m very enthusiastic about cheese, but for some reason, I never stopped.

For this road trip, I told my husband and son that I wanted to stop whenever we saw a sign that said “fromagerie.” I was also willing to stop for the word “laiterie.” Now I’m writing a blog post so that you can join us on this delicious journey.

La Fromagerie Bergeron

3837 Rte. Marie-Victorin, Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly, Quebec fromagesbergeron.com

Our first stop was at La Fromagerie Bergeron. I didn’t know what to pick, and I accidentally got two cheeses that were made elsewhere. They were still tasty, though!

The first cheese we tried was called “Grey Owl.” It was a semi-firm goat cheese coated in ash. It had a nice, tart flavour and as I’m writing it, I am getting sad because we already ate it all.

Next, we tried “Jac le chevrier,” another goat cheese. The inside was similar to the Grey Owl, but it had a Brie-like rind. After I gave my son a slice, I had to stop him from grabbing the whole thing and eating it like a cupcake.

The third cheese, luckily, was a Bergeron product: Gouda cheese curds. I think they were the best cheese curds that I’ve ever had. The saltiness and the squeakiness were perfect. I can see on their website that their products are sold in some grocery stores that I go to, and I hope they have the Gouda cheese curds!

We were on vacation, so we also had ice cream.

Overall impression: lots of good selection. A good place to get out of the car and stretch your legs. Gouda cheese curds 😍

Fromagerie Ferme Audet

554 rue Lemelin, 3501 chemin Royal, Saint-François-de-l’Île-d’Orléans, Quebec Facebook page

Fromagerie Ferme Audet is located on the picturesque Île-d’Orléans, which is just outside of Quebec City.

When we walked in, the woman behind the counter asked if we were familiar with their cheeses. We were not. She directed us to the tasting room and said she would meet us there.

Once in the tasting room, we tried three different goat cheeses. The first one was a soft cheese that was very similar to the Jac le chevrier that we tried at La Fromagerie Bergeron the day before.

The second cheese was called “Tomme de chèvre.” It was a hard goat cheese that tasted almost like an aged cheddar.

The third one was a goat feta cheese, and all I could think about was how good it would taste on a pizza.

We decided to purchase the Tomme de chèvre, the goat feta, and a bag of homemade potato chips.

After we made our selections, we enjoyed the lovely backyard where we spent some time petting two very friendly goats.

Even if you can’t make it out to this fromagerie, I recommend following their Facebook page so you can find out who the goat of the week is this week.

Overall impression: the cheese was delicious and I liked the tasting room. My son and I had fun petting the goats.

Les Fromages de l’isle d’Orléans

2950 chemin Royal, Sainte-Famille, Île-d’Orléans, Quebec fromagesdeliledorleans.com

This place didn’t open until 11 am, but we wanted to check it out before we left Île-d’Orléans. We ended up arriving about fifteen minutes early and sat down at a picnic table. We were too busy chatting to notice the line forming at the front door. When 11 am rolled around, it was too late; there was already a long line and we were not in it.

Once we got inside, I immediately found some desserts. The ones I picked up had spongy cake on the bottom, a ball of cheesy-desserty goodness on the top, and a dab of salted caramel in the middle.

We also got some squeaky cheese curds, but after the Gouda cheese curds from La Fromagerie Bergeron, I think that cheddar curds have been ruined for me forever.

I had a moment of indecision when I saw two cheeses side-by-side. I didn’t want to go overboard and get too much cheese, you see. In the end, I went with Fromage la conquête, a strong cheddar cheese, and it was a good choice. If you enjoy aged cheddars, then this is the cheese for you.

Overall impression: you might have to stand in line like an asshole, but it’s worth it for the La conquête cheese.

Laiterie Charlevoix

1167 Boulevard mgr de Laval, Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec laiteriecharlevoix.com

Laiterie Charlevoix is a nice place to get out and walk around after a long drive. There is plenty of stuff to look at both inside and outside. Their sign advertised an “Économusée du fromage,” but there didn’t seem to be a demonstration or anything happening while we there. They did have big windows looking into the room where the cheese is made.

I was a little tired at this point, and a little overwhelmed by the great number of products available, and I accidentally got only one kind of cheese! I’m sorry, everyone, I really dropped the ball this time.

The cheese I got was a mild cheddar. This kind of cheddar is available in a lot of places in Quebec. It kind of tastes like a block of cheese curds. When my family in Ontario says that they want Quebec cheese, this is the kind that they’re talking about. The Laiterie Charlevoix cheddar had maybe a slightly stronger taste than other cheddars, but not really. It was more or less what I was expecting and I enjoyed it.

Overall impression: we had a fun visit. I would like to go back one day to try more stuff.

Fromagerie St-Fidèle

2815 Bd Malcolm-Fraser, La Malbaie, Quebec fromageriestfidele.net

If you’ve been reading this while thinking, “But I’m lactose intolerant,” then here is your time to shine. More accurately, it’s Fromagerie St-Fidèle’s time to shine, but you can bask in its glow, and you won’t have to do it from the toilet in a public bathroom.

I say this because Fromagerie St-Fidèle has lots of lactose-free cheese, which you’ve probably already guessed. I was specifically trying to find cheese that still had lactose in it, but I was having a hard time finding it here. Out of the two cheeses that I purchased, I still accidentally bought one that was lactose-free! Now, let me tell you about the cheese that I got and also about my regrets.

There were big bags of shredded pizza mozzarella that I did not get. This is one that I regretted, because we did make pizza a few days after we got back. Although we used some of the cheese that we picked up on our road trip, we had to get the mozzarella at the grocery store. Yes, we did go to the grocery store to buy more cheese after all of this.

What we did get was another block of that famous cheddar that my family calls “Quebec cheese.” It was delicious and my family would have been very happy with it. We got a regular sized block, but they also have giant bricks of the stuff for $40. Maybe getting a giant brick wouldn’t have been such a bad idea.

We did put the cheddar cheese on one of our pizzas. As I sprinkled the cheese over the grocery store mozzarella, I realized that this was the last of the cheddar and I had more feelings of regret. These regrets, however, went away immediately when I took a bite of the pizza. It was the best pizza that I have ever made in my entire life.

Fromagerie St-Fidèle is known for their Swiss cheese. I’m not normally a fan of Swiss cheese. If you have been following along so far, you are probably surprised that there is a type of cheese that I don’t like. I find that it often has a waxy taste, but I decided that I should try it because it is their specialty. I went with La Belle Brune de Charlevoix, a beer-ripened lactose-free cheese, and I liked it! There was no waxy taste. It actually kind of had a hint of that cheddar that my family likes so much.

Overall impression: I want to go back and get that giant block of cheddar cheese.

Fromagerie des Grondines

274 2e Rang E, Grondines, Quebec fromageriedesgrondines.com/

This was the last stop on our cheese journey. Most of the cheeses that I saw at Fromagerie des Grondines were made with raw milk, which is legal in Quebec. I know that there are raw milk enthusiasts out there, and if this is you, this is a stop that you might want to make.

We picked up a wedge of Foin-de-Grèves, a cheese made with sheep’s milk. It is dry and crumbly with a very strong flavour. Have you ever had a slice of Parmesan on a cracker? I haven’t either, but I have had a slice of Foin-de-Grèves on a cracker and I imagine that it is a very similar experience. It was very good on pizza, though. We used the side of the cheese grater with small holes and I’m looking forward to putting it on some pasta.

The Grondines cheese was much more suitable for crackers. It is a soft farm cheese with a medium taste. It kind of tastes like cheddar, but the texture is smoother.

We also picked up some beers as a gift for our neighbours who were looking after our cats while we were away.

Overall impression: just pretend that the Foin-de-Grèves cheese is Parmesan. It’s okay to eat the Grondines cheese with crackers.

Here are some bonus pizzas:

Overall impression of the entire cheese journey: I have heart burn, my cooler stinks, my face is breaking out, and I regret nothing. Well, except for not getting more cheese.