A boy buys earplugs to block out the shouting of his constantly quarreling parents, but his innocent act has tragic results.

Six vignettes set in different sections of Paris, by six directors. St. Germain des Pres (Douchet), Gare du Nord (Rouch), Rue St. Denis (Pollet), and Montparnasse et Levallois (Godard) are stories of love, flirtation and prostitution; Place d'Etoile (Rohmer) concerns a haberdasher and his umbrella; and La Muette (Chabrol), a bourgeois family and earplugs.

Marie-Chantal travels by train to her cousin's place to spend a winter holiday, when a stranger entrusts her with false jewels that contain a virus powerful enough to destroy all humankind.