At Bertrand Morane's burial there are many of the women that the 40-year-old engineer loved. In flashback Bertrand's life and love affairs are told by himself while writing an autobiographical novel.
A widower maintains a memorial room filled with his late wife's belongings. When fire destroys it, he transforms a chapel into a new shrine to preserve her memory.
Now in his thirties, Antoine Doinel is a divorced proofreader in love with a record seller. Colette Tazzi, now a lawyer, buys his first published autobiography, leading them to a chance meeting.