La Chapelle Saint-Martin

La Chapelle Saint-Martin’s owner and chef Gilles Dudognon has a passion for contemporary art. On display for guests is an eclectic range of works, from photographs by award winning black-and-white photographer Gérard Rondeau, to works by iconic sculptor Marc Petit, and paintings by Belgian contemporary artist Roland Devolder.

But, more recently, the chapelle has embraced street art through its collaboration with French-Congolese painter Kouka Ntadi, a fine arts graduate from Paris’s École des Beaux Arts.Kouka was commissioned to paint a vast 7m x 8m work that would capture the spirit of Chapelle Saint-Martin while creating something offbeat and arresting - a window on a different world. The work features a warrior, a recurring theme in Kouka’s works. The figure is a representation of the “original man,” of higher human values such as dignity, and a sentinel who watches over the rich diversity of guests who pass through the hotel. It’s a project that continues to inspire and delight them. Hives are carefully placed throughout the grounds and moved according to the seasons and flowers in bloom. The bees produce honeys from a diversity of flowers, and the 220kg a year produced is served at the hotel’s breakfast tables, used in its restaurant’s dishes, or sold in La Chapelle’s shop. The property also offers its guests educational visits to the hives.