In the wake of World War I, Garriss (Jacques Gamblin) moves to a small French town by the Loire River, nursing deep psychological wounds from the war. He befriends a man named Riton (Jacques Villeret), who struggles to raise three children from his second wife, while Garriss pursues a maid named Marie (Isabelle Carré). Both men are reeling from past pain, and Riton often drinks to forget his lost first love. The men's romantic and career problems play out as their friendship grows.