Welcome to Saint-Martin-d’Abbat. This small, flower-filled village in the Loire Valley, 1 h 30 from Paris, has made a symbol of its urban landscape: the letterbox. Nowadays, it’s rare to receive mail from family and friends, but that hasn’t stopped the inhabitants from creatively decorating this typical piece of street furniture. Some have even transformed it into a veritable work of art! An arty and unusual stroll we suggest you take this weekend…
Saint-Martin-d’Abbat: an unusual village near Paris
But what could have possessed the inhabitants of this pretty village to make letterboxes their emblem? The idea came from Michel Lafeuille, a former retiree who moved to the village in 1997. He decided to set the village a challenge: create his own personalized mailbox, adding whatever he wanted. A nod to their profession, their passion or their personality… The result? 50 households took up the challenge in the first year.
Today, the village boasts some 200 customized mailboxes, scattered here and there throughout the commune. Unique, poetic and sometimes even humorous mailboxes that you can have fun finding and photographing as you stroll along. Proud of its cultural identity, the village has had a sign at its entrance since 2001: “Le village des boîtes aux lettres”.
The village of letterboxes… even has its own festival!
Here, letterboxes are taken so seriously that you can take part in guided tours of the village to admire them all year round. What’s more, a real festival dedicated to this street furniture is held in September. The aim is to elect the most beautiful letterbox in the village!
A hobby that may seem original, even incongruous to some, but is already very popular around the world! It even has a name:“Letterbox Art”. In any case, one thing’s for sure here: the letter carrier must be happy every day!