At the end of the 19th century, during a ball in Joinville, on the outskirts of Paris, Georges, a former delinquent working as a carpenter, meets Marie, a young woman connected to a criminal gang.
An aimless young man is committed to a psychiatric hospital by his father in an attempt to cure him of his delinquent tendencies.
The residents of the apartment building on Rue Montmartre are a motley crew of oddballs and eccentrics. The daring son of a professor couple is in love with a sexy student who supplements her pocket money by working as an au pair. And then there's Monsieur Calomel, the crazy but helpful neighbor who's always ready with a funny face...