Découverte : les phares vertigineux du Cotentin

We're almost at the end of the world, but we're at the top of the Cotentin. With more than 300 kilometers of coastline, the Cotentin's almost island is entirely turned towards the sea. Located at the end of Normandy, on a very rocky coastline, the coastline is here full of lighthouse. Meteo à la carte leads you to the discovery of three of them. The Gatville lighthouse. It's a monument for the Cotentin. The Hague lighthouse. And finally, the Cape Lévi lighthouse. It's a story that we both meet and from there we try to capture it to do something interesting. It's a very nice partner. Three essential monuments of the Norman maritime heritage are dear to the hearts of its inhabitants. The lighthouses are used to save lives. Also, there is nothing more precious than preserving life. Our discovery of the Cotentin's lighthouse begins at the northwest tip of the Presqu'île, in front of the Hague, with the Goury lighthouse, beaten by the waves. Built in the 19th century, this stone giant, 50 meters high, marks the Rablanchard, an extremely dangerous area for ships. At that time, there was no GPS, they only sailed with a compass. And at night, even during the day, when there was fog, there were often landslides. All of the Gulf of Brittany, Normandy, empties and fills up. So here, it's a kind of gulet, between the island in front of Origny and here. So the current is accelerated. And the current in the Great Barrier Reef can reach 12 knots, that is to say that the sea moves at 25 km per hour. A shaken landscape that Jacques knows by heart. Born here 75 springs ago, he has always lived near the lighthouse. When he was little, there was still a guardian and an amazing way to communicate with the earth. Women were there and men were on the lighthouse. It worked for years. It's funny. Former rescuer, like his grandfather, his father and his uncle before him, he also passed on his passion to his son and his nephew. And for him, it's impossible to completely hang up the buoy. At sea, it's always the same emotion for Jacques and Johan, the rescuers of the SNSM of Goury. The lighthouse is always majestic. And today, there are even unexpected guests. But when the sea looks capricious, it's another story. I can assure you that we are super vigilant at all times. Today, there is little wind. The tide coefficient is rather medium. And we see that it raises the sea right away. Conditions that can complicate rescue operations. The whole team keeps a historical episode in mind. The shipwreck of skipper Michel Desjoyeaux and Alain Gauthier in 1999, a few miles from the Goury lighthouse. The Brois-Saint-Léandre was on his way to the café. He got lost. So we were called. We went out, we went to join him. It took us two hours to join him. Even three hours to join him. Then we took him to the dock. But since he was upside down, the mast and the sails under the boat, it slowed down the re-boarding a lot. So the re-boarding lasted 20 hours. It was really bad weather. It was at least tiring. The most painful thing is that we had nothing to eat. At the end, we had to ration. But it was a nice operation for a racing boat. And with Michel Desjoyeaux and Alain Gauthier. So it's necessarily, it's necessarily, it adds to the operation. An episode that will have welded the rescue team more than ever. Let's leave Jacques and the Goury lighthouse to continue our discovery of the Cotentin lighthouses about 50 km further east. Direction Cap-Lévis and its small 28-meter lighthouse only. A very angular construction that makes the happiness of Philippe, passionate about photography. There is always a story to tell. We can do something superb behind. In the end, in terms of the colors of the light, it's always extraordinary because we always have changes in relation to the clouds, in relation to the sun. And we, as photographers, we are light capturers in the end. And that's what we can tell that can be very beautiful. The fog, which is extraordinary, because at least it is flowery. It's something nice. Winter is super nice to photograph because we are in conditions that are darker. The sea is much darker. The clouds are more pronounced. The stone, which is magnificent, which is pleasant to see. And especially the size, which was made very square or rectangular, but which is very straight. You still have a part that is very bright. Look on the other side, it's dark. So we can work on that to make a lighting that is completely different. Majestic, but also essential. Lighthouses like the one in Cap-Lévis guide the 200 to 500 boats passing each day off the coast of the Cotentin. It's 20% of the world's traffic. The number of boats that we have passing by is still very impressive. We still have a lot of cruise ships that are existing in the area. And still, hop, that's great. The wind. There is wind. We have wind in the Cotentin, but it is still very beautiful. And this wind takes us to the last stage of our trip from lighthouse to lighthouse on the northeast tip of the Presqu'île. Here stands the second largest lighthouse in France, after that of the Vierge Island in the Finistère. Here is the Gatville lighthouse and its 75 meters high. He has been part of Corinne's life for six years. When I was little, my dad, who was a transporter, one day he bought a brand new truck. He told us, well, I'll take you there. And we arrived at the Gatville lighthouse. So it really stuck with me. I arrived on foot and I told my parents that, in fact, and especially my father, I looked at my father, and I said to him, well, when I grow up, I will light the lighthouses. And then they laughed a lot because they told me that it was not possible that women could not be lighthouse keepers. I was very sad that day and I cried a lot. But it was not knowing Corinne well decided to conquer this lighthouse. I am quite stubborn, everything they do to me. Well, I didn't give up. I didn't give up and one day I became a real lighthouse keeper. I was very proud of that day. For me, it was a success. Since then, the lighthouses have made a living. Corinne watched over Gatville for 10 years. And here she experienced all the weather. April 1999 storm. A big spring storm. And there were waves that hit the housing just that we see on the sides over there. And with pebbles passing over the roofs. It's still quite high if you look closely. It's not trivial. So here we don't go out anymore, we stay stuck. But with the complete automation, in 2009, the lighthouse continued its life without its keeper. I only told the lighthouse that I was not giving up. I would come very often. And today I always come for a little visit. But I still have a lot of trouble getting through it. What I liked about this profession was freedom. By the sea, as I have always loved the sea. So it was perfect for me. Today retired, Corinne did not give up her lighthouse. He even gives her his child's soul. I'm four years old!