Bonjour à tous, you surely know Arthur RIMBAUD as historical figure et celebrity of the Ardennes. What if I told you that Charles Quint, Pepin the Short and even Victor Hugo passed here on our territory. Do you want to learn more?
In the town of Revin:
Charles René Billuart:
Charles René Billuart is born at Returned in 1685. He had many professions during his life, but he was a prior of the convent et theologian renowned. He died in 1757 and his motto “LABORE AND ART” is on his funeral plaque. We can still see his birthplace in the town of Revin.
Resistance fighters of the Maquis des Manises:
During the Second World War, Revin Maquis was a place of resistance of the Maquisards, they hid there in order to resist the occupation of the German enemies. This place in the forest of Malgré-Tout was a strategic location thanks to its altitude (433 meters). However, the Maquisards were tortured and executed by the Germans in June 1944.
En June 1948, memorial monument was erected on the road to Malgré-Tout for honor their memory et their courage.
Every year the 13 June, the local population is called to go to the clearing of Père Lachaise in order to pay tribute to these resistance fighters who died for France.
George Sand:
George Sand his real name Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, has come many times in the ArdennesShe traveled through the Ardennes thanks to a hunter friend who went there regularly. Charmed by the Ardennes, she returns to it frequently. She wrote about it:
“to see an admirable country, the real Ardennes, without beautiful trees, but with heights and rocks like in Berry. The Meuse in the middle, less wide and less agitated than the Creuse, but charming, smooth and navigable. We followed it from Mézières to Givet by train, by boat, on foot, and again by train. We made this delightful journey without hurrying during the day, and we even had time to have a very copious and proper lunch in a mica schist house, at the foot of the beautiful rocks called the Dames de Meuse.”
Later, long after these trips to the Ardennes, she wrote a novel called Despite Everything published in 1870.
Today a stele pays homage to him, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1953, in the presence of André Maurois, academic and biographer of George Sand.
The Faure Family:
La Faure family played a key role in thelocal industry from Revin on four generations. It all starts in 1854 with Theodore Faure, which creates its first nail manufacturing factory, taking advantage of the arrival of the train to develop its activities. It becomes mayor of Revin from 1865 to 1876 and then owns three factories. He has his built family house, which in 1972 became the Rocheteau Park House, a cultural site.
In 1936,, the family inaugurates the Sartnizon Garden City, a housing estate built for employees, also including a chapel. After Theodore's death in 1891, his descendants Henri, Louis then Bernard take over the company, ensuring the sustainability of the Faure family over four generations.
The village of Vireux-Molhain and many others (Fumay, Fépin and Revin):
Pepin the Short:
En 752, Lady Ada, widow of a count, founded the Saint-Ermel collegiate church à Vireux-Molhain. But she wasn't alone... Her cousin, the brand new king Pepin the Short, financial assistance.
Rumor has it Pepin the Short himself would be buried in this church !
En 762, He does land donation which today correspond to Revin, Fumay and Fépin withPrûm Abbey.
In the town of Givet:
Charles V:
Charles Quint his real name Charles of Habsburg was born in 1500. Named emperor en 1520 under the title of Charles V, more commonly known in French as Charles Quint, it is considered as the European sovereign le most influential of the first half of the 16th century.
It's him in 1555 who ordered the construction of the fort of Charlemont. This fort had a strategic role during 400 years in Europe.
Vauban:
Vauban of his real name, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban is nor May, the 1st 1633 in Saint-Léger-de-Foucheret. He is a famous engineer et French military architect.
Vauban has built and reinforced many monuments in Givet. He strengthened the defenses of the Charlemont Fort and contributed to making Givet a strategic point for France.
Victor Hugo:
Yes! One of the most famous writers of France visited our beautiful Ardennes. He walked from Charleville to Sedan. But what interests us most is his passage in the Ardennes tip especially in the town of Givet.
The itself that we have are mostly these mockeries on the bell tower of the Saint Hilaire church, in a letter from his book Journey Volume I :
"The brave architect took a square priest's or lawyer's cap. On this square cap, he built an upside-down salad bowl; on the bottom of this salad bowl, which had become a platform, he placed a sugar bowl, on the sugar bowl, a bottle, on the bottle, a sun fitted into the neck by the lower vertical ray; and finally, on the sun, a rooster skewered in the upper vertical ray. Assuming that he took a day to find each of these ideas, he will have rested on the seventh day.
This artist must have been Flemish"
In this book he also talks about the discovery he made in August 1838, which is none other than the Gregory Tower.
Etienne Méhul:
Etienne Nicolas Méhul is born at Givet in 1763, he is the most important composer of France during the French Revolution. While in the territory, he wrote the famous “song of departure”.
Today for him pay tribute the town of Givet has made a statue of him, she is on the Place Méhul. In addition, in the old center, a street bears his name.
In a few places in the city you can see his portrait on the ground, especially near the tourist office.
In the town of Haybes:
Philippe Etchebest
An essential figure of the gastronomy and French television, Philippe Etchebest spent part of his life in the Ardennes. Better still, he spent them in Revin and Haybes.
He was born in 1966, and from a very young age he followed in the footsteps of son père. Chef, the Etchebest family settled in Revin where he carried out his preparatory course at the boys' school in Revin, then in Haybes in the 1970s. His father worked at Labotte Mill and it is in this restaurant that Philippe Etchebest makes his first steps in the kitchen.
Later, became Meilleur Ouvrier de France, star chef et television star (Kitchen Nightmares, Top Chef), he does not hesitate to return to the Ardennes to recharge his batteries, as evidenced by his shares on social networks:
“It was a real joy to return to the area and rediscover the landscapes that marked my childhood.”
From celebrities to heroic resistance fighters, the Ardennes are full of captivating stories that deserve to be discovered and shared to perpetuate their memory.
Dive into history by visiting its must-see places and discovering the traces left by these emblematic figures.
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