France, 1943. A Gypsy family travels through a village in an occupied zone during the Second World War. They have with them a little orphan, Claude. Theodore, the local mayor and the new teacher, Miss Monday, are charmed by Claude and they want to help them. Miss Monday begins to teach the young Gypsies to read and write. Soon, a new law that forbids Gypsies from being nomadic gets them arrested and thrown in an internment camp. They're saved when Theodore gives them one of his properties in order to provide them with a home in the eyes of the law. However, his neighbors are not pleased by this generous gesture and make trouble.