The inhabitants of the windswept island of Sein, in the nineteenth century, in Brittany follow their own religion without need for clergy, but as strangers arrive, their faith and beliefs face a deep crisis.

Story is primarily based on the adventures of Antoine, a young telegraph messenger on his second night of work. He is given three telegrams, one of which is for the president of the Camber of Deputies. Excited, Antoine runs his bicycle into a truck and loses the telegrams. What follows is an amusing and agonizing search for the missing messages. He is assisted first by a glum, wise-beyond-her-years little girl, Amelie; an off-duty police superintendent, a schoolmaster, a cookie-tin maker and a fireman. The harmonica musical theme is played by Flore Falvey.

Breton doctor René Laennec fights tooth and nail against consumption, all the more desperately as his brother Michaud has just died of it.

Having become famous, a painter marries his model whom he soon brings to despair by deceiving her.

During the Second World War, midshipman Dourdan, nicknamed 'Saucisse', distinguished himself by his clumsiness and his blunders. Charged with Lieutenant Goldfinch to convey an aircraft to Marrakech, he shot down an American bomber on the way, mistaken for a German plane.

Plotters decide to scuttle a ship for the insurance money, but things go wrong.

Jean, who is the artistic director of a fashion magazine, is married to a very pretty cover girl, Sylvie. They both work for André Reverdy, a very cynical man, who openly covets Sylvie.

One morning in August 1944, the inhabitants of a French village are celebrating their premature liberation. The festivities are interrupted by the arrival of an exhausted, leaderless German detachment. A few kilometers away, the inhabitants of the village of Muzière negotiate with the Germans and agree to a truce. But the arrival of a Wehrmacht captain, anxious to regain control of the men, puts an end to this fragile peace process. The captain suggested meeting the Americans and surrendering to regular troops rather than civilians. The inhabitants of Muzière, believing the truce to be broken, fire on the Germans and, on this misunderstanding, the guns start talking again.

A young Italian fugitive and his older protective brother hide among the grape pickers at a vineyard in Provence, France.

Laurent meets Louvaine and brings her back to his island.