A chronicle of the life of Bertrand du Guesclin, grand officer of the French army in the 14th century.

1948. Madeleine is the headmistress of a kindergarten in Ménilmontant. Dr Libois, the school doctor, is very close to her heart. When Rose, a new helper comes to the school, Libois is impressed at once by her understanding of the little ones and her dedication to them. Little by little, Libois grows fond of Rose while becoming estranged from Madeleine. He eventually marries Rose.

Émile Boulard is a props man in a Paris movie studio. He has a wife, Suzanne. Or to be more accurate, let's say he HAD a wife since she left him fifteen years before, allegedly ... to go buy a post stamp. But now that their daughter Martine , who lives with her, is old enough to marry, she resurfaces. She confesses that, in order to explain his absence, she has told Martine her father was a great explorer and lion hunter in Africa. Not to disappoint his daughter, Émile accepts to pose as the adventurer he is supposed to be. At the same time he will help Daniel, Martine's bashful fiancé, not to become a henpecked husband like him.

A shy but resourceful seller of corks helps a young man get married by passing himself off as a wealthy uncle in the eyes of the mother of the future bride, a marquise hostile to any misalliance.

A renowned sculptor aged about fifty years, François Bressolles falls for the young Catherine Collet whom he convinces without difficulty to pose for him. Complications ensue when he starts to go blind.