As the film opens, a young man gets a job with the Vins Noe wine company as a door-to-door delivery boy. He is very close to his father, Paulo who works at a factory. The boy meets a girl -- Germaine -- who is working as a window dresser in a clothing shop. They soon marry, and the boy moves out of his parents' home. He also moves a step up the wine ladder becoming a lorry driver, now delivering truckloads of wine.Shortly thereafter, his unhappy mother dies in an accident, and his father experiences something of a mid-life crisis. He quits the job he's held for some 25 years, and being without means, moves in with his son and daughter-in-law. After a while, he confides in his son that he's lonely for female companionship, but has no wish to remarry. Why can't he simply have the occasional go at Germaine to ease his pangs? Being a good son, the boy agrees to ask Germaine, who finds this the most natural request in the world, and begins boffing her father-in-law while his son is at work.One day the father, while strolling around town, spots a girl shoplifting a dress. He intervenes, and steals the dress for her. She's delighted, and also moves in with Germaine's family. As it turns out, she's the daughter of Paulo's former boss -- the factory manager. Despite her social status, they make a happy, communal foursome.Eventually, the father confesses to his son that he left the cooking gas on one night to asphyxiate his mother. The boy agrees -- she was worn out and unhappy, and it was a mercy to end her life.One day he drives his lorry into a ditch, and walks away from his job with Vins Noe. He tracks down his friend, a black street sweeper, who joins the four as they decide to abandon city life and walk to the south of France -- where presumably an idyllic life awaits.