Violette lives in the country with her parents, wealthy Picardie land owners. Gabriel works as a cashier in a supermarket. On the face of it, both of these two young people appear to have led ordinary lives without incident, and yet they both have dark secrets and a yearning to escape from their stifling present reality. Their chance meeting will set them free, but with unexpected consequences...

Irene is an ordinary married woman living in Amiens, in the North of France. She works in a bank where, one day, she finds herself duty-bound to strip a client of her credit card and check book for ten years. Later on, while walking in a park Irene notices a mysterious homeless woman wearing a yellow coat. At a time she witnesses her shoplifting in a store. One night, on her way back home, she is attacked by the mysterious woman.

Every year, during the summer solstice, the Bay transforms into desert sands, and the tides stop. Michel, a hunter, is charged with battling the forces of Nature. This year, however, nothing goes as planned.