Mont Malgré-Tout de Revin, la montagne du têtu

Revin

Above Revin, in the Ardennes, the mont Malgré-Tout keeps the name of an act of stubbornness. According to the legend, a certain Meurquin (or Murquin) owned pastures on the slope and wanted to settle there with his family. The local notables told him to build elsewhere. He swore to build there all the same, repeating: ‘Y bâtir malgré tout’. He succeeded, it is said, and the mountain took the name of his promise. No date accompanies the tale. The story has become literary: George Sand drew inspiration from the town and this mont for her novel Malgré-tout, published in 1870. The climb is made by a steep path that the tourist office judges worthy of the Alps. It leads to viewpoints, including the rocher des Minches, and to the monument des Maquisards, which pays tribute to the local resistance fighters. The legend of the mont is classed in the ‘route des légendes’ of the Ardennes, with the Dames de Meuse and the Roc-la-Tour.

Getting there: Hiking trail; the climb is steep. Free (Parc naturel régional des Ardennes). Coordinates: ‘Mont Malgré Tout’ summit in OpenStreetMap (Nominatim, 21 October 2026).

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound