This wonderful lighthouse spoke to me, years and years before I got to set eyes on it, en route to Île d'Ouessant in 2005. I had the three storm surge photographs of Le Four by Plisson on my desk top computer when you first could make your own choice of screen saver . . . a wave climbs up the tower and breaks in spume around and over the whole construction… the keepers were then at home. My 2005 picture was on a day of almost flat calm, a colour transparency taken with only a moderate zoom. At last, there she blows. We took a half mile walk down a coast path to get as close to it as we could, the phare is about two miles off the mainland.
Le Four was brought into service in 1874. It has five floors in there. The granite it is built of goes almost black when it is wet, which it is, often, the sea really does break over it and it shudders when hit by storms. The tower is 28 metres (92ft) high while the light flashes white five times every fifteen seconds. The phare marks the northern entrance to the sea channel that separates Île d'Ouessant from the mainland; we watched it flash at night (along with numerous other feux) during our stay on the island.The light can be seen up to 18 nautical miles away. Very much a favourite of mine. Look at it! A chess piece in the sea. Le Four is situated among some very distinguished company too. Returning from Le Conquet in 2009, en route to ascend Vierge we had windy but clear views from near Le Four right across to Île d'Ouessant. Les Pierres Noires, by the way was built around the same time and to the same general design. They are a pair!
Postcard elevation of Le Four by Jean Benoît Héron pics by me.
I strove to improve my renditions of Le Four while we were taking our winter break in Finistère in February 2026. Sadly the light would not cooperate. Here is a selection:
