Guiding us down new paths

Monique Goldschmit, owner of Velosophie and certified guide in the Greater Region

Monique Goldschmit thinks it's perfectly normal to cycle to get from A to B. And when cycling really isn't an option, she uses car-sharing. And when cycling really isn't an option, she turns to car-sharing. Her love of cycling is not new. "In 1989, I moved to the city from Moselle. My place of work was just two kilometres away. But getting there by bus was complicated and time-consuming, so I opted to cycle. There weren't many of us cycling around at the time, so we often bumped into each other at different times and in different places. It was great."

It was when Monique was changing careers from the financial sector to the environment that she came across the then "Lëtzebuerger Vëlos-Initiativ ASBL", now known as "Lëtzebuerger Vëlos-Initiativ"."Pro Velo". Monique, who is now President of the group, remembers: "They had an offer for a cycling holiday! I jumped at the chance. I liked it so much that I signed up as a volunteer. After that fantastic experience, I started organising 4 or 5 trips a year and I also got in touch with bike tour agencies abroad. At a certain point, I realised: couldn't a bike travel agency like this work here in Luxembourg too?"

The first step was unpaid leave. After a series of training courses and internships abroad, Monique was ready, at the age of 40, to launch her own business in the cycle travel market: "It's not that I didn't like my job at the time, but I wanted to get out of the office, simply get out and make things happen! The success of "Velosophie"It didn't take long for the response to be overwhelming, and my tours were in demand. Thanks to my contacts, I was able to create new routes, for example to organic farms or dedicated to discovering nature. After three years, I was awarded the Etika prize. This contact has also led to new routes being set up as part of projects such as d'Etika. Next year, we should have reached fifty bike rides"."

Monique now has a loyal clientele, which accounts for 70 to 80% of her customers, and it's growing all the time: "Over the last three years, we've seen a new momentum. We have more and more new customers who are interested in day trips or cycling holidays. That's particularly gratifying, because we're constantly facing new challenges."

Monique never thought of herself as a climate heroine. But: "One thing is clear to me: I refuse to organise air travel! I limit myself to cycling and hiking. I've always made a point of staying in small groups, staying in small guesthouses or eating on family farms. I attach great importance to this, because I find it much more pleasant and friendly. Travelling by bike is different, because you don't start at the airport. The journey starts on the way.

It's the start of the adventure! I don't plan on a ready-made destination either, but rather incorporate the route to it into my journey. Of course, not everything goes smoothly, especially when you miss your train, for example. But we always end up finding original solutions, which allow us to chart new and uncharted paths and provide rich material for stories. And that means lots of adventures to tell."