It tells the story of an older pedant who buys adolescence from Satan.

In World War II France, American soldier Michael Blake captures, then loses Nazi-collaborator art thief Paul Rona, who leaves behind a gem studded gauntlet (a stolen religious relic). Years later, financial reverses lead Mike to return in search of the object. In Paris, he must dodge mysterious followers and a corpse that's hard to explain; so he and attractive tour guide Christine decamp on a cross-country pursuit that becomes love on the run...then takes yet another turn.

Fates of multiple otherwise disconnected characters intertwine miraculously under the sky of Paris. And it all happens in one day.

Commander Gerard and his band of guerrillas have found the ideal hideout: a nursing home in the Alps where, along with the mentally ill, are also hiding a Jewish girl and a Swiss doctor who might be a spy for the Germans ...

It's no holds barred for Julian in pursuit of upward mobility. Although expected to channel career aspirations into the Church of the post-Napoleonic era, his intensely romantic liaisons propel him forward at a pace he cannot control.

Young and handsome Armand Duval falls in love with Marguerite Gautier, a 'demi-mondaine'. He manages to persuade her to give up her life as a courtesan and they both settle down in the country. Tthe beginning of their idyll is like a dream but a short-lived one as their relationship is considered scandalous by Armand's family. During a secret visit to Marguerite, Armand's father convinces her to leave his son, which she does broken-heartedly but out of love for Armand. Her end will be doubly tragic; not only does she suffer from terminal tuberculosis but she is abandoned by everyone, including by Armand, who believes she has betrayed her. At long last, learning the truth, Armand rushes to her bedside and Marguerite has the joy to breathe her last in his arms.

Young Monique leaves the preventorium where Doctor Delaunay has lovingly cared for her. A painful return. Her mother Denise lives with Eugène, a handsome, disreputable young man who's easy to please and, on occasion, won't hesitate to steal. He hangs around Monique, excited by her freshness, until the day he is shot on suspicion of the disappearance of a mobster. Monique is reunited with Dr Delaunay, much to the satisfaction of her guardian Gilbert, known as Patte-en-moins, owner of the local bistro.

France, July 1782. During her birthday, the beautiful young Marchioness Caroline meets the attractive soldier Gaston. It's love at first sight but Gaston does not wish to make a commitment because a military career waits for him. Caroline marries then a politician but the French Revolution bursts and Caroline has to run away to escape the guillotine. By running away she meets Gaston again who decides to help her.

Thérèse, a young flower girl, tries hard to remain virtuous but the whole world seems to conspire against her, whether her petty Paris family, or her relatives in the province bristling with false respectability, or her lustful employer, or the boy she loves who seduces her and abandons her. But at the end of the day there is Yvon, her childhood friend. Will he be the one that will love her truly?

Married French lawyer Andre defends succesfully the case of Yvette, who committed a robbery. He falls in love with her, but she isn't true to him.