Mont-Saint-Michele has been on my bucket list for over 20 years. So when Disney Cruise Line offered a cruise to Iceland that happened to call on Cherbourg, I jumped at the chance to hire a private guide to drive us through the French countryside and take us to the Mont. I found Igor on Trip Advisor and booked the tour directly through his website after reading so many wonderful reviews. My expectations were that he would pick me and my husband up from the cruise port, drive us through the countryside (approx 2 hours each way) to the Mont-Saint-Michele -- all the way regaling us with stories and history of the area, and take us on a tour of the Mont that would also include historical anecdotes that only a tour guide who was passionate about the area could give us. Unfortunately, when I emailed him a few days before our trip, he let me know that his car was in the shop and he would not be able to take us on our tour. He had set up another driver. It was plainly obvious that the driver he set up was no tour guide. He let us know that he packed us bottled water and then literally didn't speak any more words to us the entire day. He dropped us off at the Mont and stayed with the car. There was no lunch at the restaurant. There was no tour of the Abbey. There was just me and my husband, marveling at the Mont with no context except what I quickly looked up on Wikipedia because I was expecting my guide to provide this local color.
We've hired many private guides before. We pay a lot of money because we know we're going to get a tailored experience. But when I want a driver, I hire a driver. As we made our way back to the ship an another wordless 2-hour drive, I couldn't help but wonder why Igor didn't accompany us? The thought was amplified after three more private guides toured us through Iceland and Norway (and the Norwegian guide hired a taxi to drive us around while she narrated the experience). I reached out to Igor to voice my frustration and disappointment and all he had to say was that he did, in fact, provide service to Mont-Saint-Michele. When I responded that I didn't want a full refund but something as the service didn't remotely meet expectations, he neglected to reach back out to me.
I'm sure he's a very good tour guide when he shows up but the experience I had for my once-in-a-lifetime trip was disappointing to put it mildly. Definitely not what I paid for.