The French police officer who swapped himself for a female supermarket employee being held hostage had already received a lifetime of accolades by the time he walked unarmed into the store under attack by an extremist gunman.

Latest: An armed man took hostages in a supermarket in southern France, killing three people and injuring about a dozen others before being shot dead when French police stormed the market, authorities have said.

Ryanair has announced extra flights on 40 different routes from Cork, Dublin, Knock and Shannon airports for summer 2018.

This week I’m focusing on the Languedoc and largely the wines of Domaines Paul Mas which is imported by Cork-based Karwig wines. I toured all their vineyards a few weeks ago and was once again charmed by this part of France.

Corkwoman Mary Elmes was awarded Israel’s highest honour for saving countless Jewish children from deportation to Nazi concentration camps during WWII. Less well known is her work helping to feed over 80,000 French schoolchildren who faced near-famine conditions. In an area of southwest France the size of Munster, all of the children knew her name...

The focus is sunny southern France this week following a recent trip I made to the Languedoc courtesy of O’Briens, writes Leslie Williams.

Long delays for holidaymakers at major European airports including Dublin could lead to short-to-long term opportunities for smaller airports like Cork and Shannon, the head of the Irish Travel Agents Association has said.

If you are reading this it is fair to assume that you are interested in wine, not just because it has the power to ‘banish care’ but because how it interacts with all your senses.

This week I’m taking a snapshot of the Languedoc-Roussillon, easily the most unwieldy wine region in France and arguably the world.

Chris Froome extended his advantage in the yellow jersey with an opportunistic move as Peter Sagan won stage 11 of the Tour de France.

Watching the Euros has got me thinking about French wines so once again this week I’m back in the Languedoc.

THE weeks leading up to Christmas might be described as the Anything-in-Wonderland period. 

Debt-saddled Cork Airport has been dealt yet another routes blow — this time on the double.

Concerns have been raised about Ryanair’s 2015 summer schedule out of Cork Airport amid fears that 23,000 seats could be lost.

AS someone obsessed by the idea of catching impossibly large and beautiful salmon in impossibly large and beautiful rivers I have had to come to understand that the hoping and wishing may almost be as exciting as the arriving and doing. 

SEPTEMBER has become wine sale season it seems. Last week I wrote about the Lidl French wine sale and some of their Bordeaux bargains — this week it is the turn of Dunnes Stores.

Michael Rogers claimed a first ever Tour de France stage victory as he outsprinted Thomas Voeckler.

Mark Cavendish says he is recovering quicker than expected from the shoulder injury that ruled him out of the Tour de France but may still miss the World Championships in September.

There is relief for the tens of thousands of holiday-makers due to travel to Europe over the next four days, after French air traffic controllers last night called off the remainder of their six-day strike.

Aer Lingus has brought forward the start of its summer schedule to Marseilles to accommodate Munster fans travelling for the Heineken Cup semi-final.

There’ll be choke tackles, charge downs, rucking, mauling, and, doubtless, a couple of breakdowns.

Settlers of Catan; Stone Age; or King of Tokyo — just some of the more unusual games set to feature in what’s being billed as Ireland’s first-ever Festival of Board Games.

The route of the 2014 Tour de France, which begins in Britain, includes five mountain finishes and just one individual time-trial, organisers announced this morning.

HIRING a car on holiday can be a stressful business — firstly there’s the paperwork, then the cost, then the map-reading and last but not least, the reality of driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road.

ALTHOUGH increasing numbers of us buy our wine at the supermarkets, this week I want to encourage you to remember the independent wine shops who can often provide more variety and unusual styles.

The end of the world is just weeks away, if you believe interpretations of Mayan prophecies, and one man knows how he is going to survive it: In a giant boat.

Kate Mosse, as successful as she is prolific, tells Sue Leonard about how she became a multi-million selling author and why she chose to leave France

EU competition regulators are investigating whether marketing support and airport charges deals between Ryanair and operators at France’s Carcassonne airport gave the low-cost carrier an unfair advantage in breach of EU rules.

Ryanair will open its 48th base, located at Billund Airport in Denmark, in March 2012, it was announced today.

SATURDAY

EVERYBODY we meet this past couple of days is interested in either a) getting to San Sebastian for Munster v Biarritz in one of the Heineken Cup semi-finals or b) getting to Toulouse for Leinster v Toulouse in the other semi-final.

FRENCH wine-makers and dealers were convicted this week of selling millions of bottles of fake Pinot Noir to the US firm E&J Gallo in one of the biggest scams ever to rattle the wine world.

Ryanair is to base one new aircraft in Bristol airport and two new planes at Liverpool.

RYANAIR has confirmed it has cut 17 routes from Shannon Airport from the end of March resulting in the loss of 150 jobs and a 75% cut in capacity.

RYANAIR has suspended the booking of most flights from Shannon from May as it pushes ahead with plans to cut capacity at the airport by 75%.

AS PEOPLE dig out their winter attire in preparation for the cold dark nights ahead, many thousands of holiday makers will actually be packing their swimsuits and sun-tan lotions to fly off to the sun.

Low-fares airline Ryanair axed more routes and jobs at Dublin Airport today, blaming a surge in Government aviation charges.

Ryanair have announced a series of route, flight and frequency cuts at Dublin Airport from July, blaming the impact of the €10 tourist tax to cause numbers at Dublin to go down 12% in February.

RYANAIR has confirmed it will almost certainly axe any flights on which Irish airports increase their charges.

A soldier wounded 16 people including a three-year-old child accidentally firing live bullets at a French military show.

Ryanair, today announced that it has filed legal proceedings for damages against French trade union, Confederation General de Travail (CGT).

A FRENCH-based company headed by Irish personnel will be offering wine-tasting tours in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France this summer.

ETIHAD Airways has given the Irish long haul market another boost by deciding to increase its service from Dublin to Abu Dhabi to a daily operation, just months after introducing Dublin to its route network.