Clarisse (aka 'Venus') learns that she will go blind in a year or two .Although pregnant by her lover, Madère, she pretends she's cheated and he leaves her. Madère owns a boat, Le Tapageur. While Venus' friends try to bring eyesight to the blind and they take her to an imaginary voyage on Le Tapageur; her crippled sister describes for her the 'landscapes' of the countries they 'visit'.