annieladd

Do you recommend his tour?

Is he available on Mondays?

Do you have an e-mail address for him to make a reservation?

Thanks, annieladd

grantop

Mr. Miller's tours are well worth it. You are given a headset so it is easy to hear him and his tour is fun and informative.

You do not need to make a reservation, just show up and if I remember correctly you gather near the book shop on the left. However, if you are planning on visiting during the winter you should e-mail and see if he will be there. Sometimes during the winter months he travels or there just aren't enough people for him to do the tour (he likes a minimum of 10)

annieladd

Thanks, I'll be there on a Monday in September, so hopefully he'll be there.

Thanks, annieladd

Elainee

Can you believe, we took his tour on our honeymoon 47 years ago. It was very good and we have done it several times since then. Best in 1960.

AnselmAdorne

annieladd, here's his e-mail addy:

[email protected]

He responded within a day when I was in contact with him last month.

Anselm

Beatchick

We made reservations with Malcolm Miller last Wednesday. The gentleman who e-mailed him had tried to do the tour before but Malcolm was a no-show then being out sick. When he e-mailed Malcolm this time, he expressed his disappointment in missing him last time. He also stated that since his wife was pregnant it would probably be some time before they'd get back to France. Malcolm e-mailed back that he wouldn't be sick this time. That was a week and a half before the tour date. On the date of the tour, Malcolm Miller did not show up. We called him and he stated that he no longer does the group tours at 10€ per head but that if we were willing to pay 125€, he'd be happy to turn up for a small group tour. We decided against it because this tactic smacked suspiciously of a bait-and-switch tactic (come on, he tells us this a week and a half later?). I understand that the gentleman is getting on in years, but to not inform us initially of his change in tour habits seems very unprofessional to me. BTW, there were about 8-10 people we saw milling about at the cathedral waiting for Mr. Miller to show, so he would have made 80-100€ anyway (there were probably more that we just didn't notice).

We three had a great time in Chartres without Mr. Miller although we were disappointed. If you go, there is a fantastic restaurant nearby called Chez George or Restaurant George. Absolutely fantastic food complete with amuse bouche. I'll give details later but I do remember the sole meuniere was divine.

Go ahead & make reservations but don't be disappointed if he doesn't show up. In essence, don't go to Chartres expressly for a Malcolm Miller tour.

annieladd

Too bad about Mr. Miller, perhaps his age has taken its toll.

Beatchick, there is a Restaurant George on our hotel web site (Grand Monarque) do you suppose that is it?

grantop

Beatchick, sorry to hear Mr. Miller was a no-show, and I don't like how he handled the whole thing either! We toured with him in 2003 and there was no monkey-business and the tour was really good. Hope this is not the new "norm".

I don't want to hijack here, but Beatchick, I know that you have in the past stayed at the Hotel Jeanne d'Arc - did you this time too? I posted separately asking for an updated review. If you see this I hope you will be so kind as to click on my name to find the thread and tell me your comments. Thank you, and my apologies to Annie if I got off track here.

PalQ

I also had a 'switch and bait' experience with Malcolm a few years back - about 10 folks had waited around for his advertised tour - he was late and then, arriving smelling of wine for his afternoon tour, he sized up the group and said that with only this number of folks he couldn't do the tour, "that he had better things to do with his time" unless we would agree to pay double the normal, advertised price - like idiots we all agreed and the tour went on but it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Malcolm can be abusive to tour members as well - don't dare even shuffle your feet when the maestro is talking or rish his verbal wrath.
after i posted my criticism of Malcolm on a previous post someone else chimed in that on their group tour they found Malcolm so abusive that they aborted the tour.
So though the tour is great, in terms of content and bringing the stones and windows to life, i urge everyone to boycott this obnoxious 'gentleman' tour as his actions don't deserve patronage - to wit the above post where he also jacked up the group price after having agreed to a lower, normal one.
Tip - take the morning tour - on the afternoon tour Malcolm really was reeking of wine and perhaps this makes him even more canktankerous than normal.
Note: There are other official English-language tours of the cathedral as well.

AnthonyGA

The tour I took with him a few years ago was nice, as was the tour my aunt took with him 32 years ago (according to her). He has been giving tours for half a century, so perhaps he's just getting tired of it. I'm sure he loves the cathedral, to which he has dedicated his life, but giving tours every day for fifty years probably gets pretty old after a while.

Beatchick

Oooh, yes, Annieladd, THAT'S IT!! In the picture, in about the middle of the photo is a corner by a window in the corner. That was our table.

The food is fabulous! I went to dinner with 2 foodies from NYC and they were equally impressed.

No, grantop, instead I stayed in a YOUTH HOSTEL for 8 nights (yep, I did!), then 4 nights at the Hôtel Chopin (I've always wanted to stay there & I scored a blue double room - I love blue - at a reduced rate = 66&euro, then 1 night at the Hôtel Henri IV (top floor, view of Nôtre Dame and view of the Place Dauphine), then 2 nights at my FAVORITE hotel Hôtel les Degrés de Nôtre Dame (1 night in room 501 where I've always wanted to stay, then 1 night in room 12 which was very nice, too). Grantop, I've always raved about the croissants & café from there. I have wondered if maybe I romanticized them to myself since I stayed here my 1st trip to Paris but, no, the croissants & café creme were every bit as divine as I remember. Nicole tells me I need to come back so that I can buy croissants from the nearby bakery.

wren

How interesting to read other's impressions. When we heard Mr. Miller in 2003, we were impressed by his knowledge and his rudeness. Both stood out blatantly. I don't care how long someone has been doing something, rudeness is uncalled for. The man seemed to have absolutely no social skills...perhaps he focuses on the cathedral in order not to have to deal with people. Who knows what lies beneath it all, but bottom line, I thought he was incredibly interesting...and rude!

Beatchick

I agree with you, Wren. If the man is tired of doing the tour everyday, then fine, don't do everyday. Or better yet - retire! Or if you really just want to do small groups at 125€ then do just that & tell people your intentions. I'm sure there are plenty who would be willing to pay 125€ for a small, intimate tour with Malcolm Miller. What bothered me is that we paid the fare to go to Chartres to meet up with someone who supposedly has the integrity to follow through on his word (i.e. that he would be there & that it would be 10€/head). I just don't understand why he just couldn't be honest from the get go.

PalQ

That's why i say he's so abusive of people who are paying to hear him that he no longer deserves patronage. even if his tours are good - and i can't believe that the cathedrals English tours aren't just as informative, but perhaps not so theatrical, i urge everyone to boycott his services - or better yet to teach the money-grabbing guy a lesson, tag along with the paying group - after all he can't kick you out of the cathedral, though i'd love to see how he'd abuse anyone who did this!

111op

I have read a lot about complaints about Malcolm Miller, and it was with reservations that I bought a guidebook written by Miller when I was there a few weeks ago. They were all over the bookshop -- with varying amounts of detail. I opted for the thinnest one.

So if people must have Miller, his guidebooks could be good substitutes. But I thought the audio guide was pretty sufficient for me (I used the 45-minute version).

I didn't have a choice as I was there on a Sunday, and I think that he doesn't give tours on Sundays. In any case, based on what I've read here, I'd not have taken his tour.

The backcover of the book I bought notes that he's highly decorated in France, with various awards of merit awarded by the French government.

Beatchick

OH, PalQ, I meant to tell you that I agreed with you, too. I suppose he's been doing it so long that his name is the easiest to remember so everyone automatically chooses a Malcolm Miller tour.

111op

By the way, not that this is terribly relevant, I wonder if he is required to split his income with the Cathedral. His tours were advertised quite prominently on a sign next to the bookshop. Tour times for English were given along with his name. The sign had other information on it and looked to be officially sanctioned by the Cathedral.

Intrepid1

Incredibly interesting and rude...interesting combination...probably worth the tour for that alone.

Isn't he the one who recently showed up for a tour inebriated...if so, the report of that supposed behavior set off a food fight on this board between a couple of the board "owners" and the non-worshipful which made WWI look like a picnic!

Beatchick

111op, did you buy his book in the cathedral bookshop? I didn't see it. That would make a good substitute. One could listen to the audio commentary without fear of being upbraided for "shuffling feet" and intoxicated post-luncheon breath.

111op

Yes, I bought the thinnest book I could have (there were a few written by Malcolm Miller). I also bought a guidebook published by Horvet (that also has some additions/changes made by MM).

I thought about it as I wasn't sure if I wanted him to get a royalty from the sale of that book to me.

By the way, I didn't spend that much time "reading the stained glass" beyond looking at the few that are famous. I figured that I wouldn't remember much of that sort of stuff anyway. I was in Chartres for about an hour, but I did research the Cathedral pretty carefully before I went, so I got what I wanted out of my visit.