Marianne Messman, a housewife, wants to escape her loveless marriage and an uncaring and unfeeling husband of 35 years. She and her husband, army sergeant major Lothar, take a trip to Paris, during which Marianne leaps of the Pont Neuf into the Seine, but she is saved from drowning by a homeless man. Angered by her behaviour Major Lothar takes a coach trip back home to Germany, expecting that a psychologist will escort Marianne home a few days later. However, Marianne comes across a hand-painted scene of the tiny port of Kerdruc in Brittany, and becomes fixated with the place.