The mysterious Nathan Hyde is lured out of hiding by the glamorous Erica, a reluctant employee of a global organisation known as The Establishment. Hyde's particular skills are required to recover a priceless Rubens painting stolen from the Catholic Church, but his assistance is only secured when his daughter's safety is assured.

The Fenouillards (Sophie Desmarets and Jean Richard are the parents, Annie Sinigalia and Marie-José Ruíz are the daughters) are shopkeepers with higher aspirations. The Monsieur wants to run for mayor of their town, but the family acknowledges he has little experience of the real world -- and so they all take off to experience it together. After starting out by getting lost, the family goes through an odyssey that takes them to Brazil, the Antarctic, and Japan in a series of episodic adventures.