Chartres Malcom Miller
 

I thought if we were at Chartres it would be great to hear Malcolm Miller's guided tour. Since I have heard both ways on this forum - that he is giving tours and he isn't giving tours I decided to send him an email. This was his response. "Dear Ms. Miller,

Thank you for your e-mail.

Yes, I am still guiding here at Chartres. The problem is that there are far fewer tourists this year, so I have cancelled tours during the winter months because there is no one to talk to !

Anyway, I hope things will improve now that we are in March, and I expect to guide on March 18th. at 12 noon and 2.45 p.m. providing that there are 8 or so participants.

The meeting-point is inside the cathedral at the entry to the gift-shop in the north tower.

Best wishes,

Malcolm Miller"

Hopefully there will be enough tourists while we are there for the tour. I find the experience is always enriched if we can get a little history behind what we are looking at.

We had a VERY good experience with Malcolm three years ago, but I have noticed posted complaints about him recently. Whatever you do, take binoculars--makes a lot of difference in trying to see all the details.

His tours are great. I've taken them 4 times since the early 1980s when the cost was a donation rather than a flat fee. I find that he has mellowed with age and is not as cranky as he used to be. I would definitely try to take his tour as who knows how much longer he will be doing them.

The noon and 2:45 tours are different so you could do both with some lunch or walking around between the tours. Try to take the noon tour and then decide if you want more info on the church at the 2:45 tour. The talks are about the windows and then you go outside to see a corresponding portion of the facade.

Is a reservation necessary? If so, how do I make them? What are the hours? I will be going in August.
Thanks,
Jane

When we did it, you just showed up! He took the money right then. And just as Adrienne said, you could then come back for the afternoon. I know--it's like it's too easy!

I also agree with the suggestion that you take more than one tour. He has so much information and there is so much there to see that he can easily adjust the tour if necessary.

I am glad he now charges a fixed fee. I also went when it was donation only and I noticed several people 'stiffing' him after a great tour.

I've done a dozen or more tours with Malcolm and never experienced the crankiness reported here and elsewhere, but it was probably just dumb luck, as the stories about him are legion. He's really amazing. I've also heard him speak here at the Smithsonian, and again, amazing.

Isn't he about 90 or so now? My first tour with him was in 1973, and he seemed pretty past his prime then. Must've eased up on the Chinon.

DO bring binoculars.

One site I googled said that he had been giving tours at Chartres since 1958. He could possibly be 90 or near to it.

No he isn't that old!
He first came to Chartres in 1956 as part of his university degree studies in French, when he was aged around 21 or 22. So he is in his early 70s.

We took his tour in November last year. It was great. Because there were few people, he only gave one that day. He said he has been giving tours for 50 years!

I can't imagine giving tours in the same place for 50 years! He must really love it. I hope we can tour with him while we are there.

You might want to check on renovations to the cathedral. My daughter was there 3 weeks ago and said it is undergoing major repairs. She still loved it.

I think Malcolm's tours are legendary for a good reason - they are spellbinding and bring the cold cathedral stones and windows to life.

That said when i showed up there were not enough people for a tour in Malcolm's opinion and he rather IMO haughtily said for this many people it ain't worth my time unless you all agree to pay twice as much as the regular price. Otherwise i have better things to do with my time. I took the tour but that left a bad taste in my mouth. Like if he had twice his usual number would he discount the price in half. I think Malcolm is a jerk - on one tour he got into a verbal spat with French teens who were buzzing him on their loud mopeds on purpose - and on another tour he told folks to shut up - for good reason but rather rudely. Many reports of abuse at his hands have been given here - one group bagged his tour midway from too much abuse the leader said. But i will and have taken his tour again. IMO best to take one before lunch as after lunch, when he hit us up for more money he was reeking of wine.

<< So he is in his early 70s. >>

Well he doesn't look like he's in his early or mid 70s.

We received two emails from visitors to the site asking if there was a way to confirm that he would definitely be at the church; is there a way or is it just that he's typically there?

Except for in the off-season when Malcolm often does a lecture tour of U.S. campuses or museums he is just always there it seems.

But i would not count on him always showing up or like i said above he told our group that we were not numerous enough and if we did not pay double the ordinary price "he had better things to do"

We were in Chartres on May 20 for the noon tour. I emailed him prior to be sure he would be in town. He assured me he would be there. We had a family group of eight. I politely asked if there were only a few people would he give the tour for our family and he said he would.

We arrived barely on time and a small group had gathered with Mr. Miller and were chatting about this and that and agreeing we needed this tour in English. We waited a few minutes for a tour group of people who were lost but on their way.

We all paid, got headsets so we could hear and were seated to see the windows of the west facade. The Cathedral is undergoing a major cleaning and restoration. Some of the windows are covered but there are plenty of windows to review. The veil of the Virgin is in the back of the church not in a side chapel as before. You move around to see different windows and we went out in to the sunshine to the south wall for an explanation of the statuary.

This is Mr. Miller's 51st year to give his tours. We found him charming and funny and throughly enjoyed our time with him. We were pushed a bit since the tour group was late and it was past lunchtime. He has another tour scheduled after lunch.

He had come highly recommended and we were not disappointed. He is an expert you are paying to hear an expert "lecture" so I would be irritated if people were talking while I was trying to listen.

Do bring binoculars. It was very chilly in the Cathedral even though it was warm that day so if you are cold natured you should bring a sweater.

I do not think you will be disappointed. If you are you can always say I did hear him but I didn't like him. He won't be around forever.

I am thrilled to hear that Malcolm Miller is still giving tours at Chartres. It must have been 15 or 20 years ago that we happened upon him quite by chance, just as he was starting a tour - we followed him, entranced, as he gave us his wisdom in very funny ways.

Like St.Cirq, I don't remember him being anything but full of information and quite humorous in his approach.

It is a wonderful memory, don't miss it.

When we visited Chartres in March the Mary veil was no on display due to the restoration. Is it back now? I was very disappointed to not see it, but the carvings are just amazing. I think I enjoyed the carvings more than the windows.

Well the Mary Veil miraculously survived the conflaguration that burnt down one medieval church and after some time was miraculously found in the ashes - unharmed of course because of divine intervention.

Whoever's veil is here is certainly not Mary's, but still...

Malcolm Miller is not 90! I interviewed him over the course of a month in 1983 when he was going on fifty. He is a treasure -- hope you don't miss him. He is truly called to that other treasure: the cathedral itself.

Marcy Heidish

Malcolm looks 90 and at times acts like a 9-yr-old

I have rarely seen any man so so full of himself as Malcolm Miller - his trampling over people who pay to take his tours, often completely unjustified in times i've taken his tour or seen him doing his Schitck in the cathedral - anyway is so so obnoxious.

Yup his tours are great info and often fun but still i would suggest taking the official tour that the cathedral itself offers instead of with this lout.

I took a tour of Chartres last summer with Mr Miller and intend going back again this year. I had, however, wanted to check out what other folks thought, and see if my own experience was unique. I found the tour fascinating. It really brought the cathedral to life, and made it accessible to everyone irregardless of their knowledge of religious history. However, I found the man himself to be rude and extremely irritable. When I went to pay for my headset I was asked for my passport. As I was a long term resident in Paris I wasnt inclined to carry my passport with me anywhere. Who would?! When I told him this I was rebuked, as it was French law to carry it, seemingly. He was rude too I thought to a number of young children, who were meerly talking quietly and not interfering with the tour. He also made what I thought were distastful comments towards Protestant reformers. I really thought he was a rude person, which was a great pity as the tour itself was great. I would not pay for the privalage to be insulted again, no thank you.

Yet another first-time poster who is complaining! I just love the rare times when a newbie has something positive to say.

Duh...Malcolm Miller is famous for his curmudgeonly behavior as well as for his knowledge of Chartres cathedral.

I've had to leave ID for audios/headsets in other places. That's to ensure people don't walk off with them.

Palenque, we get it. You don't like him, and you don't care much for church or church relics. Take it outside.
Amicus, you apparently changed your mind about going back between the beginning and end of your post. LOL
We found the tour to be extremely good. We didn't have headsets. He even told us that the only place one type of glass/color occurs elsewhere than one of the windows is in a church in our hometown neighborhood.
He DID fuss at some young people who were talking loud. I personally think that people should ALL remember they are in a church, not a museum or auditorium.

We took his tour 30 years ago and he was rude and dying then. He is the Meyer Lansky of traveldom.

I think you misuderstood me Gretchen. I said I intended returning to Chartres cathedral, not to the Miller tour. Thus no need for the 'lol'. Thank you.

Excuse me Adrienne, but the fact that I'm a first time poster is completely irrelevant, and has nothing to do with my experience on the tour. And as it happened, I did leave ID, just not my passport. The idea of giving your passport to a stranger for a headset is ludicrous. And please, do not put 'duh' in your comment relating to me. Unlike some of the negative comments re. Mr Miller I did not resort to personal attacks. I simply said I thought he was rude during points of his tour, and did acknowledge the tour itself to be very interesting.

Unless I was mistaken, this is supposed to be a forum where people can share their experiences, either positive or nagative in a civil fashion.

Oh, I'm sorry Gretchen, but the irony of your comment appears to have been lost on you. If Chartres, or indeed any other cathedral, is not a museum, then what were you doing taking a tour?