There is wine tasting, but is there ....

I haven't done one, but I know that there are cheese tasting tours in Paris. It also would seem you can walk into a fromagerie and ask for samples. (I would make sure to buy at least a little something) We tasted a lot of cider in Normandy as well as camembert. You could just buy some in a deli. One thing I like to do is to try some wines, cheeses and other foods before I leave on my trip. Total Wine has been great to suggest some wines and a higher end grocery should be able to help with some cheeses. I like to know a little bit before my travels. I feel like I'm able to learn more while I travel.

Checkout the food tours with Paris by Mouth.

Are you going to specific cities in Normandy, and are you looking for an organized cheese sampling & appreciation class there or in Paris? I haven’t done any personally,.

At any market or fromagerie in France (not a supermarket, but one outdoors or in a closed space with designated vendor stalls), the cheese seller should be happy to offer tastes and information, to help a customer make choices. A key question to get answered when tasting cheese is to find out if it’s from cow, sheep, or goat’s milk. Mold is sometimes an essential part of the cheese, although you aren’t required to eat anything you’re not comfortable with, and spitting out into a Kleenex or napkin is always an option.
An Italian cheesemonger once joked that Italy sends all their outdated, expired cheese to France, who are happy to eat their moldy leftovers :)

Specifically they have a cheese workshop at Paris by Mouth.

Where do you live? Is there a cheese shop or a Whole Foods? Start there where there is no language barrier. If the smelly blue cheeses don’t do it for you, you just saved a whole lot of time and effort. DeGaulle said “how can you govern a country that has 246 varieties of cheese?” Better to start narrowing this down at home. Try soft cheese, hard cheeses, goat, sheep, cow. Find a half dozen you like, write them down then try them and their cousins in France. Will make it a lot easier than starting from scratch there.

I've been able to taste cheeses in markets and supermarkets before choosing. Some things I've learned about cheese . . .

It's often not made with cow's milk. Sheep and goats are the source of many cheeses. Similar to cheddar, many cheeses are aged, the older, the sharper. There are hard/yellow cheeses and there are soft/white cheeses (brie, camembert - basically the same type, from different regions). I know that there are varieties of white cheeses like feta, from various bovines, I don't recall if they are prevalent in France.

In the markets, especially in small towns, expect the cheeses to be locally produced. In Paris, especially in supermarkets but possibly in some markets, you will also find imported cheeses from other countries as well.

Bon appetit!

Take a look at L’affineur Affine in the 9th http://www.laffineuraffine.com/en/ and Paroles des Fromagers in the 10th https://parolesdefromagers.com/en/.

perhaps you are looking for a cheese-tasting "experience", with a host and servers, and wine etc., to promote cheese sales. That is versus just sampling a few cheeses prior to purchase in a shop.

I’m just looking to sample, nothing formal. I am not against buying a cheese that I like.

Okay, when you say “ sample, nothing formal,” are you expecting the samples to be free or are you looking to attend a cheese tasting and pay for it?

Why pay certainly. Nothing is free, not even a black eye, you have to fight for that

Just checking. You would be surprised at the number of people who are trying to nosh for free.

Two more suggestions for you are Astier in the 11th and La Biche au Bois in the 12th -- both of them are restaurants that bring out a cheese plate before dessert for the prix fixe meal. I usually choose two types but you could get a piece of each one on the tray. It probably will not be as informative as a cheese tasting course but the experience can be somewhat informative because the servers, or at least the ones I have had, are very knowledgeable.

In your post above you suggested http://www.laffineuraffine.com/en/. I looked and that is exactly what I was looking for. I shall go there and attempt to educate or at least modify my plebeian cheese experience.

Thank you!!~

We have taken the Paris by Mouth cheese workshop some time ago, and it was simply fabulous. Here is a link to the website. https://parisbymouth.com/french-cheese-workshop/

The venue seems to have changed a bit in that it seems to be now in one place. When we took it a small group of us met at a fromagerie, had a short lecture about cheese shops, went into the shop and talked about the different varieties. Ouur guide then made a selection, and we were allowed to do so too, if we wished. We then walked to a wine store where we took over a back room and sampled our plunder along with a variety of wines and bread as we were told about each cheese. The price seems to have gone up as well.

Anyway, my very favorite is Epoisses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89poisses_de_Bourgogne As the French say, "It may smell like feet, but it smells like the feet of Angels!" If you do try it do NOT waste your time with the stuff made with pasteurized milk like the stuff they export to the States. A smear of this on a chunk of crusty baguette is my idea of heaven.