Knack-Pain in Strasbourg

I thought I best bring you up to date with my competitions before I start writing about my week in Budapest, so I'll fill you in quickly on my trip to Strasbourg.

The trip to Strasbourg called for another long minibus journey and another long lesson in how to play another French card game - this one even more upsurd then the last. Basically, the aim of the game was to get rid of your cards but losing the game meant you were given a penalty for the next round. If you came last you would have to give your two best cards to the person who came first. This lead to several hours of losing hands until I eventually scraped my way out of last place, by which time everyone had had enough and we gave up.

After a nice meal in the picturesque Strasbourg town centre, I had a good night's sleep blessed with the rarity of a room on my own.

As for the competition, I was once again disappointed with my performance in the poules. I managed to get through one round of DE, however, at the expense of one of my team-mates who I beat in the 128. My low-seeding however guaranteed me a tough next round and I drew Julien Pillet - the toughest possible. Despite some initial optimism and a couple of decent counter-attacks, he pretty much picked me apart and the match ended 15-5. It was a good experience and I really am in no position at the minute to challenge this multiple olympian and best french sabreur of recent times at the moment.

Again, I spent the rest of the competition as the club photographer... someday I may be a real fencer.

Circuit National Strasbourg 28.1.07

The competition ended at 6ish and we arrived home finally after yet another exhausting minibus journey around midnight. So after all that the highlight of the weekend for me whould have to be the discovery of Knack-Pain, a strasbourgeois delicacy. Pronounced it was basically two hot-dogs in a proper baguette. From this you should be able to judge how the weekend was for me.

I find my form still fluctuating as much as my confidence in my ability to fence and perhaps that is telling. After every time I get knocked down it's up to me to build myself back up again.