The family patriarch Van Paemel is a farmer on baron de Wilde's estate. His mild-mannered son Désire is accidentally shot during a hunting party on the estate and remains an invalid. Eduard, the eldest son, is a member of the socialist workers' movement and involved in strike actions in the city....
Each year Thomas goes an a pilgrimage but he has more difficulty to complete it, but then he is offered a footbath that appears to contain a miracle drug. Wouldn't this make a huge seller during Expo 58 in Brussels... .
Five rather frivolous musicians seize the opportunity to perform on a cruise in the Mediterranean. Alas: they are under contract to engage a female singer - and they fear to fall in love with her, which would endanger their friendship.
Thanks to his actions during a farm fire, the young and naive Dreas is appointed to the local fire department, which awakens various ambitions in him. He constructs primitive watchtowers everywhere and achieves some successes, partly due to the activities of an arsonist. He is then allowed to...