 Seventeen-year-old Beth is just finishing school, and lives in Paris with her bedridden mother and younger brother. She is annoyed because her boyfriend suggested she try sleeping with other men - the uglier the better. Sugardad, a doctor who visits her mother, and supports them with occasional cheques, now has his eyes on Beth. Alphonse, an older man, intervenes when Beth s boyfriend is fighting with her on the banks of the Seine. When she visits Alphonse later, they end up discussing poetry.