Who we are: two biographies in one nutshell

We own HOPE  International Communications, an international marketing and communications consultancy that has been in business for 28 years, with clients in both Europe and the US. This has imparted us with a first-hand experience of cross-cultural contexts. It has also given us an acute sensitivity for all that can be improved in the options American travelers have when visiting certain European regions. 

This was the starting point for our new venture, Délices & Découvertes.

Philippe Holtzweiler was born in Strasbourg into a family that has been rooted in Alsace for generations. He holds an MBA from HEC, Paris, the oldest and most famous French business school. He has two additional degrees, as he also studied Anglo-Saxon linguistics, Old Norse, German literature and pedagogy at Strasbourg and Paris-X Universities.
 
In 1994, Philippe ended a high-flying, but not overly exciting career as a manager and consultant to launch his first company. He has been an entrepreneur ever since. Having a rather adventurous disposition, he has lived in Germany and the UK, on the Isle of Man and in Southern California, with a few stints in Italy, before relocating with Olga to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
 
As a passionate cook for decades, Philippe masters an eclectic repertoire. Among others, he has a keen and not entirely selfless interest in desserts.
 
Philippe, in addition to speaking English since he was ten, has two native languages—French and German. In addition, he speaks Italian.

Olga Krasnova-Holtzweiler was born in the Prefecture of Vladimir, in the ‘Golden Ring’ of Russia. She studied foreign languages and pedagogy at Moscow University.

Taking advantage of the Perestroika and following her rebellious inclinations, she left Russia for the US in 1992 and never came back. After being initially hosted by a wonderful American family in the Bay Area, Olga moved to Los Angeles—and in the course of the following 25 years, she had ample time to turn into a real Angeleno. Olga loves New Mexico and the Great Outdoors, but she does miss the ocean (and the year-round option of either high heels or flip-flops…).

Olga and Philippe live in downtown Santa Fe. When they do not travel, they painstakingly renovate and remodel a genuine old adobe to a former glory it actually never possessed — an open-end project if there ever was one…