The story of how the people of Paris cope with the strains and struggles of war, from the siege of the city by the Prussians during the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 to the invasion by the Germans in World War II.

After the death of her mother, Germaine moves in with her father in a small town near the Rhône river. She falls in love with a young man, Alban, already engaged.

A prominent chanteuse on a world tour meets a young fellow European in Singapore, a soldier of fortune who becomes obsessed with listening to her voice on a recording.

A young priest works as a barman in a Pigalle cafe in Paris. He tries to prevent the women there to prostitute themselves....

There is a rivalry between the top part and the lower part of the village of Murcie because of water. Pancho, Maria del Carmen's fiancé, hurts Xavier, son of the rich Domingo, so he has to leave the country. Maria proposes to take care of Xavier in exchange for Pancho's freedom. Unfortunately, Xavier falls in love with her and Domingo forces her to marry his son. Pancho reappears, ready to defy Xavier, but the two overhear a conversation and learn that Xavier's days are numbered. So he asks Pancho to elope with Maria.

Denise, an orphaned girl, moves to Paris where she hopes to find work at her uncle's store. But the glamorous department store 'Aux Bonheur des Dames' across the street crushes all the little businesses around. She finds a position there.

The relatives of wealthy, unmarried and slightly eccentric uncle James are all after his money -except his nice Ginette. She brings him to adopt two war orpahns and shows him, how his other relatives raely "love" him. But suddenly the orphans' father, a Lieutenat stands at the door of the house.