Chartres Cathedral Malcolm Miller Tours in Sept

Sorry, not recently, but I did one of Malcolm Miller's tours through the cathedral in 2006. It was fabulous - he has such a passion for the cathedral, he brought the building to life in a way I would not have imagined otherwise. I am sure you will love it.

Hi Catherine, Malcolm Miller is the expert on Chartres Cathedral. We had a tour with him May 2014 and found him to be both interesting and extremely well informed. I was thrilled when I found out that he would be our guide. Malcolm wrote several books and they were available for purchase at the shop across the street from the Cathedral (probably other places too). I saw that someone provided his e-mail address in response to your other question.

Thank you for our replies. I will email Malcolm Miller. I'll do a post if I get any more info from him.
thanks

We went specifically to Chartres to do his tour last May and sorry to say but it was a waste of time
He dawdled along at snails pace and we decided to break off from tour and did it ourselves

Malcolm Miller is still alive! I saw him in 1985! Wow. He was great.

"We went specifically to Chartres to do his tour last May and sorry to say but it was a waste of time
He dawdled along at snails pace and we decided to break off from tour and did it ourselves"

It's not a tour. He moves around from window to window (not all of them by any means) and points out and discusses aspects of the statuary outside and construction details of the Cathedral, but it's not a tour. He takes questions and give colorful anecdotes. He's been there since 1958 and is the recognized authority on the place, what did you expect, a sprint? A waste of time? Surely you jest.

Our tour group met with him in 2014 and he was absolutely wonderful! Really a special experience.

Met up with him for a tour a few years ago and his required number of guests was short by one person so he wouldn't do the tour. Seemed like cutting off his nose to spite his face and he was in a crotchety mood at the time. My partner and I, as well as the other folks, were really disappointed since all of us were really looking forward to doing a tour with him. His solution? Buy my book. At 15€ each, it seems better taking 105€ than nothing since he's already there.

Met up with him for a tour a few years ago and his required number of guests was short by one person so he wouldn't do the tour. Seemed like cutting off his nose to spite his face and he was in a crotchety mood at the time. My partner and I, as well as the other folks, were really disappointed since all of us were really looking forward to doing a tour with him. His solution? Buy my book. At 15€ each, it seems better taking 105€ than nothing since he's already there.

So you had 7 people and that was 1 person (15E) short of his minimum. Why not each person present for the tour chip in another 2E and buy the spot of the missing person? It's less than the cost of a coffee, and you would have got your tour.

Tried that and he wasn't interested. Seems as if he had his mind made up a was not in the mood to lead a tour that day. We all have our off days. If I return to Chartres, I'll try again, though.

We were there three weeks ago and had a great tour with him. He gives only one tour per day now but none on Sunday. He is sometimes off on vacation or lecturing elsewhere. I believe the tour is at 11 am or noon. Check since don't want to miss it. We have been on three tours with him and each were different and we learned new stuff on each. He is not your standard tour guide who gives the same tour over and over. He instead goes over certain specific aspects of the cathedral that he is interested in discussing that particular day. As stated, he has been there for decades studying the place and is really the acknowledged expert on Chartres Cathedral.

As others have noted, it is not a tour, it is a lecture. One of the highlights of our travels to France but I am not surprised he is getting tired of it and just tired in general.

Yes, not a tour guide but more a professor emeritus. He doesn't do it for the dough - he speaks on what he feels like talking about that day - IF he feels like talking (he was very hoarse last time I heard him). If you're lucky enough to get one of his guided lectures, though, you'll be transported back to the Middle Ages and the age of faith and the lives of the people who built this magnificent structure. Mr. Miller also likes to talk about the really inane questions people on his tours have asked over the years. He's very entertaining but he's 82 now, I think, so he may not be doing this much longer. (He's rather crabby too - don't think you can pay him more if you don't have the required number for the tour.)

I remember him talking about the inane questions as well. I also remember one woman asking about Jesus' love life on my tour back in 2012.

Haha. Jesus' love life. Bet he loved that one!

The question no doubt came from reading that Dan Brown book, the totally fictious one that threw every historical group into a chapter somewhere.

Traveled to Chartres in June. At the cathedral, I was told that Mr. Miller has been ill an it is uncertain as to when or whether he will continue to provide his expertise. None the less, visiting the cathedral with the audioguide was an unforgettable experience.

We went on a memorable "tour" with him in 2003. A little crotchety but well worth it. Focused on particular windows and features of the cathedral. I hope he recovers and keeps it up, but who could blame him for taking it easy at this point? The man's a treasure.

In 1981, I was in the cathedral one morning and came across his tour. I latched on and really enjoyed it. He said he had another tour in the afternoon, so I went to that one. He asked if anyone had been to the tour the day before or in the morning and then he modified his talk so there would be a minmum of overlap.

In those days he was not allowed to charge for the talks and had to rely on tips.

This thread seems to be the running Malcolm Miller report. A group visit last month was a highpoint of our trip. On that day he only gave one lecture, at noon. I emailed him the day before and got a very polite reply.