Report

Friday 31 August

On Friday we were going to drive all the way from Belgium up to Lyon in the south of France. I was first going to meet Lars in Leuven and then go by train to Brussels Airport where Arnaud would meet us and then we would leave. During this quite short trip in comparison with our previous trip to Czech Republic we, as you can guess, solved a lot of cubes and also discovered a great singer: Luther Vandross. In Arnaud's car, we found a CD with the Greatest Hits of Luther Vandross. We started to listen to it but even though these were its greatest hits, we had never heard any of them. :D :D
After some time, Arnaud said "Oh I have already heard this one somewhere". Then Lars said "Yes, that's because the CD is starting again !" :D :D
Finally we reached Lyon and asked Clement to come and help us because we could not find the parking he indicated us.

In the evening we met a lot of other cubes and went to a restaurant where we had some hamburgers (no no, we did not go to the Mc Donalds :D). That was quite a good evening.
Afterwards we went back to Clement's place where we prepared some stuff for the championship until after 1 o'clock and then I headed to my bed which was in the kitchen. :D :D

Saturday 1 September

The competition was being held in luxury hotel in the center of Lyon. As usual in these kind of places, the lighting of the room was extremely good. After the set up of the room, we launched the competition.
For once, there were no tables in the room, only chairs. I usually consider it better when there are tables so that you can set yourself at one place and display all your puzzles. However, the configuration of the day (only chairs) turned out to prove more convenient given the small size of the room. Moreover it allows more contacts as your chair is usually occupied by someone else when you go away form it, even for a short period of time.
Among all the results that happened that day, the 2nd sub10 solve ever done by Edouard was one of the highlights. Fortunately other good results happened, among them:
- 2 sub 19 solve in the OH competition (by Rama and me) - a new ER average in the OH competition - a nice sub2 average by Frédérick Badie - a nice attempt for 9 cubes blindfolded by Clément Gallet.

In the evening, after having brought back all the stuff to Clément's place, we went back in the center to grab some food and more importantly find a place with good lighting. After walking for about 15-20 minutes, we finally decided to go to the Quick as it is usually the only place with enough tables and good light. ^^

I personally find this kind of competition ("cube-only events") quite good because it feels more competitive than a competition with all events. However, I quite like to solve some Magics too. ^^
For now, let's just practice for the Polish Open in 2 weeks !! :D

Pictures


A quite good solve if you ask me. :D


Lyon is a very beautiful city. Especially in the evening !


An interesting way to display 9 cubes ^^


"Cube girls" - There was a strong feminine presence for once. :)


Ever heard of Rama's "Killer Instinct" ? I think it is pretty clear on this picture of the 3x3 OH podium. ;-)


The best guys in the 3x3 in Lyon. :)


The human timer, very easy to use and very handy when you want to time yourself and walk in a street at the same time ! :D


A group of cubers (Joël, Arnaud, Antoine, Rama, Thibaut, Clément, Jean-Louis, Marya, Ton, Lars) :)

Thank you everyone !!


EDIT
Here is the video of Edouard's 9.90 second solve: .avi (2 MB)