Chateau Balestard La Tonnelle

We had a lovely day out at this chateau in St Émilion today. Balestard was the name of a monk, and La Tonnelle is the tower you can see in the top left photo where taxes were collected if you wanted to travel into St Émilion  many centuries ago!
We were attending the AGM of the local RAF Association, which is always enjoyable as they usually go somewhere interesting, there is always lunch involved and the official business takes less than an hour! 
This time there was also wine tasting, and the wines being tasted cost 50€ a bottle, but as I volunteered to be the designated driver today, I didn’t have any!
For lunch we went to a restaurant opposite where we had a kind of tepid aioli soup with spring onions and very small pieces of cod in it, strange but tasted good, followed by sliced duck breast (cooked perfectly as each person ordered) on a bed of veg, and poached pears with apple sorbet with crème Anglais.
The weather has cheered up too, the sun had a bit of warmth in it although there is a very chilly wind, but we were at the second highest vineyard in St Émilion.