Chartres tips and recommendations?
 

For the fun of it, we've decided to go down to Paris on Friday to take part in the Democrats Abroad election caucus (6:30 pm at the American Church). We're going to spend Friday night in Paris and then would like to drive down to Chartres Saturday morning. My husband has never been there. Everyone recommends the Malcolm Miller tour, is there a web site for booking the tour? Are reservations required? I did a web search, but most of the hits were about his book.
Also, any nice restaurant recommendations for Saturday dinner and Sunday lunch?
Hotels are already booked (for Paris, we booked a hotel that's technically in Neuilly, for easy driving access and parking).

No reservations needed, just show up at the Cathedral at the appointed times. I do not remember the times, but someone else on this board surely will. His tour is excellent. The caucus sounds great.

The tour is fantastic, but I don't know if they are conducted this time of year - I THINK (hope I'm wrong!) they are only between April and January at noon and 2:45 PM, Monday-Saturday. The price is about 10 Euros which includes a headset that allows you to hear Mr. Miller perfectly, no matter how large the crowd! As already stated you don't need a reservation, just walk into the cathedral and go to the book shop on the left, the English tour meets right outside the shop and you pay Mr. Miller directly.

Hey BTilke,

What a great weekend. Besides just following your nose & checking menus in centre ville (I've had some great crepes & bistro meals just wandering there), also see the following . . .

La Vieille Maison
5 rue au Lait
28000 CHARTRES
Tél. : 02 37 34 10 67
Fax : 02 37 91 12 41

Poutres, pierres, cheminée, meubles rustiques, tables bien dressées et natures mortes aux murs, c'est clair, nous ne sommes pas ici chez un designer mode mais dans une vieille maison. La cuisine est du même tonneau, bonne, classique et aux présentations soignées. Quenelles de tomates aux langoustines et supions aux cuissons parfaites, damier de thon et haddock, légèrement fumés, bavarois au pain d?épices et coulis d?abricot.
Menu : 26  -  43  Euros

Also the Restaurant Georges in Le Grand Monarque hotel is supposed to be worth the detour. Other excellent restos are closed on Saturday lunchtime . . . Personally I'd reserve at the Old House! HTH

Thanks all for the tips. I think it will be a fun week-end (even more fun for me than DH--I get to take the Thalys down in the morning and have the day to myself in Paris, while husband drives the luggage and dog down in the afternoon--unfortunately, he can't leave work early; OTOH, he gets the MM tour of Chartres while I walk the dog, a fair trade, I hope!). La Vielle Maison sounds nice...a definite possibility!

P.S. If the MM tour isn't available, can you buy his book at the cathedral?

Hallo daar! Here are both the email addresses you need . . . and don't miss the crypt *and* the towers . . .

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/.diocese.cha...tes/guieng.htm

Have a great trip : )

Mr. Miller has several books that are available in the cathedral bookshop. Do make an effort to take his tour if it's available. Who knows how many more years he'll be doing the tours. In fact, I would do both tours the day you're there. He varies the subjects so the tours the same day are different. He gives a short history of the cathedral, lectures on one or two of the stained glasses, then you go outside and he talks about a portion of the facade that corresponds to the stained glasses. I've done his tours three times and would go back again.

We will be in Paris as well on Friday, where is the American Church?

To the best of my knowledge the English tours always have been, and still are, at noon and 2:45 pm. There are tours in French at 10:30 am and 3 pm.

Mr. Miller often travels during the winter giving lectures and tours, but there is always one of his students to fill in if that's the case.

The cost was 10 euros the last time we were there, in 2001.

I can recommend Le Buisson Ardente, on rue du Lait. It has a great view of the cathedral and the food is delicious and reasonable.

I feel so fortunate...when we were at Chartres in 1989 we just happened on Mr. Miller's tour. As I recall, we could have come back in a few hours for a tour with a different subject matter.

The American Church is a 65 Quai d'Orsay, 7th arrond. You have to be American to participate in the caucuses and it's geared toward expat Democrats(rather than visitors from the U.S. who can participate in the process at home--this is our shot at taking part in the preliminaries), with absentee ballot registration and tips on voting from abroad, but everyone is welcome to attend! See you there!

What makes Malcolm Miller's tours so unique is that they're more than just tours of the cathedral--he gets into how the building was designed as well. During one we took he had some of the people in our group line up across from each other and link their raised hands across the aisle; then others were told to hang from the hands, demonstrating the strength of flying buttresses.

I can recommend a wonderful little restaurant for lunch in Chartres if I could just remember the name! The proprietrice was charming and gracious, and the food was absolutely delicious, not to mention being a work of art. They had a very inexpensive prix fixe lunch with wine and your choice of dessert or cheese. We were the only Americans there at the time. All the clientel that day appeared to be French "ladies who dine". There was a second room where a group of ladies looked to be having a group club luncheon as there were about a dozen or so lunching together at a banquet type table.

Now here's the part I hate to admit - I got the recommendation out of a Rick Steve's guidebook. So anybody that has one might check to see if it's still listed. If it's not in the current one, the one I had was either 2000 or 2001. Maybe someone that does have one can respond and tell us the name of the restaurant as I would like to know.

The funny part was, upon leaving, I mentioned to the owner that we had seen a recommendation for her restaurant in that guide and asked her if she knew it was mentioned there. She had absolutely no idea what we were talking about. And this was not a case of "lost in translation" since both my traveling partner and I are French teachers. So obviously if Rick Steves did in fact dine there, he must not have been with his film crew entourage.

Personally I love Chartres, even though my Parisienne friends poo-poo me - no wait, they down right laugh at me and say they don't understand why I like to day trip there. But there are some quaint little places there, and I love the cathedral, especially the gift shop. If you ever need to bring back souvenirs, there are some lovely things there, and many things are very reasonably priced.

At the tourist info you can get walking tour guides of Chartres. This is worth a detour. There are several other churches on the walking tour that are also incredibly beautiful as is the town.

Take a pair of binoculars so that you can see the detail in the windows as Mr. Miller is describing them.

I would agree on taking the tour twice (that is if you like it the first time you take it - can't imagine not loving it).

I stumbled on his tour years ago (I was meeting a bicycling tour in Chartres and was there early). I loved the tour and he mentioned that there was another one later that day. Went to it and the first thing he asked was if anyone had been to the earlier tour or a tour the day before. He then modified his talk to minimize the duplication.

Back then (1981), there was no charge to the tour (French regulations) and he was forced to rely on tips. I couldn't believe how many people stiffed him !

Well, a few changes to the plan...my husband has a business meeting on Friday afternoon, so I'm going down to Paris alone and spending the night in the 7th, coming back Saturday evening. Then next week-end, we're leaving Friday morning for Paris, spending on night there, then off to Chartres for a nice Valentine's day there, coming back Sunday afternoon/evening.
Will let you know who wins the Paris caucus.
P.S. Something fun to try:
http://www.presidentmatch.com/
an online questionnaire you fill out to see which candidate (both parties included) is best matched to your views.

Two dining experiences we reallly enjoyed in Chartres: Hotel Grand Monarque has a gastronomic restaurant (and an excellent bistro/cafe if you don't want to dress up). Off on a side street but still near the cathedral is Le Buisson Ardent, one of the best meals we've had in France, upstairs dining room is more beautiful/formal than the downstairs.

Wish I was going!

Hey BTilke, how about a trip report?