In the footsteps of the revolution<\/p>\n
It was in 1492 that Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba. In 1519, the Spaniards founded San Crist\u00f3bal de La Havana and remained masters of the island until 1762, when the British occupied it for nine months before returning it to them in exchange for Florida. In any case, it was enough time to deport nearly 10,000 slaves to the island in conditions that are well known... Today, the streets and boulevards are lined with colonnaded buildings, more or less devastated, whose pastel-coloured facades respect the wishes of the Spanish crown. Because in these tropical latitudes, white would have dazzled the eyes of the beautiful...<\/p>\n
An incentive group visit always starts with a tour of the old town, with its narrow streets, squares and small squares dotted around the baroque cathedral, where palaces and stately homes have become museums, such as the Colonial Art Museum or the City Museum, the former palace of the Captains General, whose patio can be rented out. The old stones are photographed, but even more so the old ladies, dressed up like brothel-keepers with a big cigar in their mouths. Others, much younger and more dapper, leave the imprint of their red kiss on the cheeks of visitors... In fact, small trades born of the resourcefulness so dear to Cubans and generated by ever-increasing tourism. In Habana Vieja, visitors generally discover the Bodeguita del Medio, one of the city's most famous bars, while drinking a mojito, Hemingway's favourite cocktail, before having lunch at El Patio,\" explains Julio Santos P\u00e9rez, sales director of the Occidental Hoteles chain. Adjacent to the cathedral square, El Patio is the ideal restaurant for an evening out. In front of it, you can gather 300 people for a dinner-concert - it's almost like an open-air theatre. Another alternative in the old town is to organise a dinner in the Place Saint-Fran\u00e7ois d'Assise after a concert in the church.<\/p>\n
Outside these colonial districts, Havana proudly displays the traces of the Revolution begun in 1952 by Fidel Castro against General Battista, then in power. At the time, the capital was the open brothel of the United States, not to mention drug trafficking and money laundering. In 1953, Castro attacked the Moncada barracks near Santiago de Cuba. He failed, was imprisoned and then amnestied in 1955. He and his brother Raul went into exile in Mexico City, where they met a young Argentinian doctor, Ernesto Guevara, who was also a follower of Marxism-Leninism. In December 1956, Castro boarded the ship Granma at the head of a commando of 80 barbudos, and docked in eastern Cuba. A two-year guerrilla war ensued, at the end of which the revolutionaries took the capital on 1 January 1959. On 1 May, Castro proclaimed Cuba \"the first Socialist Republic of America\".<\/p>\n
To understand this piece of history, groups visit the Museum of the Revolution, in front of which stands a tank. Another famous site is the Plaza de la Revoluci\u00f3n, with its memorial to national hero Jos\u00e9 Mart\u00ed, which can hold over a million people. This is where, in his heyday, Fidel would deliver his lengthy speeches to an almost mesmerised crowd.<\/p>\n
But the city is also synonymous with original pleasures, such as entering the Partagas cigar factory, one of the oldest of its kind, founded in 1845. Here you can learn about the art and craft of selecting tobacco leaves, rolling them, banding them and then boxing them. As night falls, it's inevitable to stop off at the Tropicana, an incredible open-air cabaret, with dancers, rhinestones, feathers and Carmen Miranda or Jos\u00e9phine Baker lookalikes, just like in the heyday of the great Parisian stages. This open-air theatre, which can't be fully privatised, has a mainly Latin American crowd swaying to the rhythms of salsa...<\/p>\n
But you can't leave Havana without making a diversion to Finca Vig\u00eda, in San Francisco de Paula, the house where Ernest Hemingway lived. You won't be able to set foot on the floor of the house - it's forbidden and heavily guarded. But that's not so important, as you can walk around the house, looking at the open windows and doors, and take in the d\u00e9cor, which is, after all, quite 'deco': everything is there, the furniture, the books, the objects, the typewriter... And in the garden, which was frequented by Marlene Dietrich and others, you can stop to look at the countless tombs of her no less countless dogs and cats, her famous boat El Pilar or the swimming pool, which is now dry, where Ava Gardner used to bathe. Private cocktail parties are organised especially for groups. And a private cocktail in this garden, literary or not, is bound to leave a lasting impression.<\/p>\n
It's well known that the French love history. That's why a visit to the small colonial town of Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is almost always on their itinerary. From Havana, you take the central highway that runs alongside plantations of orange, banana and mango trees. Along the sides of the road, a whole life is organised, with peasants in carts and others selling handmade nougat and strings of garlic and onions. From time to time, a maxim is inscribed in huge letters on an equally huge concrete sign: \"Revolution means building\", \"Young people in the vanguard\" or \"Our athletes are and always will be an example\", a way of inviting the passengers in the vehicles to meditate...<\/p>\n
Just before Trinidad, a diversion to Cienfuengos is in order. There are still some architectural gems to be found there, such as the Palacio Azul, recently converted into a hotel, and the astonishing neo-Moorish-style Palacio de Valle restaurant, where groups can enjoy lunch. The road winds between the sea and the mountains, and climbs against a tropical backdrop towards the small town. Cobbled streets, brightly coloured houses, opulent railings on the windows, horses' hooves, the parish church of the Holy Trinity, old palaces, most of which have been converted into museums... This is because the town was once rich, very rich indeed; you can see it, feel it, breathe it in as things have remained as they were... and it's easy to imagine the atmosphere that prevailed in the 19th century, when sugar cane was a hit in Europe.<\/p>\n
To relive the era, participants in an incentive operation take a small steam train whose wooden carriages criss-cross the valley of Los Ingenios, in other words the valley of the Sugar Mills.<\/p>\n
Some haciendas have survived climate and history, such as Iznaga, where you can have lunch at the Manaca restaurant before climbing to the very top of the tower. The tower? A 470-metre watchtower used to monitor slave labour! So much for history, the good and the bad. Now it's time to relax, enjoy the white sand and blue lagoon, the coconut palms and the festive evenings in Caibari\u00e9n, around 2.5 hours drive north.<\/p>\n
Around ten years ago, to create a seaside resort on the cayos of the north coast, the government had a fifty-kilometre long dike built across the sea. Millions of tonnes of stone were unloaded by lorry to complete this titanic task, which was sometimes punctuated by bridges to allow the tides to pass without, in principle, altering the environment. Now, at the very end, year after year, 'all-inclusive' resorts are springing up, scattered among exuberant greenery and sparing no expense on flowers, completely out of time - and also almost out of geography - where guests enjoy the space, the sea and the swimming pools.<\/p>\n
Lisardo Gomez, Sales Director of the Royal Hideaway Ensenachos hotel, explains: \"Here, when groups arrive, they are greeted with music and a welcome cocktail. They generally stay for three days, during which time a torchlight dinner is held on the beach, serving fish and seafood. The following day, they are taken on a catamaran cruise at sunset before the gala evening. In either case, they attend a dance performance in the theatre. The hotel is very well located, as from here they can go on excursions to Trinidad or Santa Clara.\" For those afraid of getting bored by too much hedonism, the place is also absolutely perfect for organising Olympics, snorkelling or discovering the wildlife.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, before getting back on the plane, a final dip into history is in order. A recent history, that of an icon of a whole generation, since in Santa Clara there is a monument dedicated to Che Gevara, executed in October 1967 in Bolivia. His remains and those of his comrades in arms were brought back to this mausoleum. Next to it, you can visit the small museum that retraces his life, with photographs and personal objects, and recall the tribute paid to him by Fidel Castro, eight days after his death, in front of half a million Cubans: \"You have physically disappeared, but your image and your ideals remain and will remain present in us, because they will never be able to kill them with bullets\".<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"