In the French Riviera in the summer of 1915, Jean Renoir, son of the Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste, returns home to convalesce after being wounded in World War I. At his side is Andrée, a young woman who rejuvenates, enchants, and inspires both father and son.

A wayward young man finds himself involved with two mysterious people of a previous generation. After an affair with the married Hélène, the young man tries to escape her obsessions on a road trip with Serge, a taciturn relic of the 60s.

In 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.