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Constellation

The  “Airplane of the Stars” is living up to its name today. Besides the “Casablanca Clouter,” the violin virtuoso Ginette Neveu
is also setting off to conquer America. The tabloid France-soir  organizes an impromptu photo session in the departure lounge.
 In the first snapshot, Jean Neveu stands in the center smiling at his sister, while Marcel holds the Stradivarius and Ginette grins 
across at him. Next, Jo takes Jean Neveu’s place and, with his expert’s eye, compares the violinist’s small hands with the boxer’s 
powerful paws.
 

Then on the tarmac, at the foot of the gangway, the two celebrities continue their conversation. Ginette gives the details of her tour: 
Saint Louis, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York. Marcel offers her front row seats for his rematch at Madison Square 
Garden and promises to attend the concert at Carnegie Hall on November 30. Maybe they can have dinner together at the Versailles, 
the cabaret where the Little Sparrow has been packing the house for months. 


Four enormous Wright engines of the Lockheed Constellation F-BAZN are droning. The propellers and blades have been inspected, 
and the eleven crew members line up in front of the plane. The big beautiful aircraft, its aluminum fuselage perched on its outsized 
undercarriage, looks like a wading bird.
Adrien Bosc; translated from the French by Willard Wood