Anna O’Donoghue samples sun, sea and castles and the odd mechanical elephant on her visit to Nantes, and discovers how the Loire Valley’s cultural capital comes into full bloom in the summer months.

It feels appropriate that we’ve parked for the night in Tours, to break up our mammoth, 900km trip from Bordeaux to Lille.

Rivers in Europe have burst their banks from Paris to the southern German state of Bavaria, killing six people and trapping thousands more in homes and cars.

Irish wine drinkers are far too polite. I doubt any other consumer sector in any other country would take the same level of abuse from their government so placidly.

A former mayor of Tours has been found dead in a suspected suicide just as he was to go on trial over suspected kickbacks involving Chinese group weddings in the picturesque Loire Valley city.

This column tends to mention French wines quite often but I can be forgiven this week, given the day that is in it — l’amour and all that.

CHAMPAGNE. The word needs little explanation to any adult and is almost guaranteed to conjure up a memory or two.

SCHOOL’S out so many families will soon be packing up the car and driving to France to stay at camp-sites or perhaps rented gites.

In the run-up to Bastille Day, singer, Jeanette Byrne (inset), will perform from the songbook of the famous French chanteuse Edith Piaf at Triskel Christchurch in Cork on Saturday.

With more food tours and trails in Ireland than ever, there’s never been a better excuse to eat your way through a short break, says Pól Ó Conghaile.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are planning a festive break in France.

GIVEN the glorious weather of the past few weeks rosé wines don’t need much extra promotion from me as they are selling out everywhere.

IMAGINE the floral perfumes and white pepper of a fine German Riesling and mix that with the freshness of a Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc such as Sancerre, and finally add in the lusciousness of the best Pinot Grigio from Northern Italy.

THIS week I want to write about a wine region dear to my heart that is hardly known in Ireland, despite the fact that it is the nearest wine region to Ireland — the Loire Valley.

Church Lane Restaurant, Macroom, Co Cork, 026-23402 and facebook

WHEN we think of Bordeaux wine we think of quality and the famous châteaux.

IT’S almost a year since SuperValu introduced its exclusive ‘Specially Sourced’ wine collection and, significantly, had enough confidence in it to throw much of the range open to a media tasting.

TWENTY YEARS ago, anyone who was anyone in food went to France.

Sienna Miller reportedly wants to marry Jude Law in the English countryside.

Sienna Miller and Jude Law are reportedly planning their wedding together.

Ireland U-20 44 Scotland U-20 15

TWO Cork travel companies have received recognition at the Irish Travel Trade Awards for 2009.

Italian scientists are seeking to exhume the body of Leonardo da Vinci to conduct carbon and DNA testing.

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.

Workers at a French chemical plant have freed their boss after holding him overnight to protest at the closure of the Loire Valley factory.

French farmers emptied milk churns onto streets and burned tires in a protest over low dairy prices today.

INCREDIBLE INDIA hopes to take advantage of the exposure this vast country has received since the latest round of Oscar awards.

CANVAS Holidays say credit crunched families can still afford holiday breaks in France this year.

Seven people were killed and 25 others injured when a bus carrying Moroccan workers crashed into a bridge in France’s Loire Valley today, regional authorities said.

Former 'Star Trek: Voyager' star Jeri Ryan wed French chef Christophe Eme in France's Loire Valley last Saturday.

IT’S the burning issue as the heatwave blazes on — should red wines be stored in the fridge?

Aer Arann, Ireland’s has today announced further expansion to its European network with the introduction of three new services from Liege in Belgium to London Luton and Birmingham in the UK and Lorient, South Brittany in France.

Cork International Airport is on course to cater for three million passengers this year.

Two Irish sisters killed in a road accident in west France were planning a shopping trip when they died, it emerged today.

Conditions are expected to be perfect for Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-Lucien Barriere, officials at Longchamp predicted today.

IT WILL be no secret to anyone that the Cork Market is one of my favourite places.

AT least four people have been killed by storms that battered western France overnight, officials said yesterday.

At least four people have been killed by storms that battered western France overnight, officials said today.

SOME of the grand old masters of the bubbly business were left red faced yesterday and it wasn’t down to an over-indulgent Christmas tasting session.