It is the beginning of summer. Delphine had planned to go on holiday with a girlfriend but the latter let her down at the last minute. She finds herself all alone and rather depressed. Some friends invite her to Normandy and the mountains, but she finally cuts short her stay. She then ends up in Biarritz where she has several desultory encounters. The advice of an emancipated Swedish woman only deepens her solitude until she overhears snatches of conversation about Jules Vernes' “The Green Ray” that give rise to new hope.