Boulogne-sur-Mer. One morning, 26-year-old Alice, a worker in a fish cannery, loses her job. She tells herself that now's the time to make a fresh start, but doing what ? Stay here and rot or get a real life somewhere else ? In Lyon, 27-year-old Bruno, a construction worker, is feeling down and lonely. He hangs out with a pal, the night porter at the Ideal Hotel. One evening he sees an intriguing, go-getting young woman at the bar. It's Alice.