I was recently in France and saw...

[Ray]

Just got back from the D-Day 75th Anniversary celebration and a river cruise from LeHavre to Paris. Along the way, we spent some time climbing up to Chateau Gallard in Les Andelys.



On the climb up from the Seine River valley, I ran across the following on the roadside:

Platanthera chlorantha


Hymantoglossum hircinum






Gymnadenia conopsea (tall spike on right)


The plant on the left was Anacamptis pyramidalis

[camille1585]

Wonderful orchids, thanks for sharing! All except the first one were quite common where I lived near the French Alps. The Himantoglossum is one of my favorites since it's rather large and strange looking! Did you get a whiff of it's smell? In french it's called the billy goat orchid...

[Ray]

No. I was too out-of-breath from climbing.

Here's a view of the environment, with plenty of anacamptis visible.

[camille1585]

That's amazing, there are so many orchids in one place!

[rbarata]

Anacamptis pyramidalis blooms here in March-April. In May it's already too hot for them.
The same applies to Ophrys.

[Ray]

I doubt that Normandy is ever too hot.

[Tindomul]

oh wow, great finds!!!