One summer mid-afternoon, Antoine (Darroussin) leaves his insurance firm job to meet up with his wife Hélène (Bouquet), as they are to fetch their kids (somewhere distant, but it is not explained as to exactly where they are or who they’re with), and then head on to his in-laws in the ‘Basque Country’ for two weeks vacation, and he wants to beat the traffic (and the two million cars that will be on the road). They arrange to meet at a local bar, but she is late arriving and it gets on his nerves. When she does arrive, it’s clear their relations have been strained for some time.