After leaving his job at the University of Swindon, Michael Sadler returns to France intent on wooing Lou Charpin, his belle francaise. Unsure of his credentials he decides to woo her family at the same time. He plays Scrabble with the feisty, chain-smoking grandmother; attempts to explain King Lear to an adolescent more intent on sowing birdseed in his window boxes; and survives a family Christmas that quickly becomes reminiscent of a Greek tragedy. The final challenge lies in luring Lou away from her more-than-friendly acquaintance, the plutocratic optician who is unappreciative of rivalry from the barbaric north. In the end, will the Lothario from London win the girl despite it all?
