For generations, two rival French villages, Longueverne and Velrans, have been at war. But this is no ordinary conflict, for the on-going hostilities are between two armies of young schoolboys. When he is beaten by his father for having lost his buttons, the leader of the Longueverne army, Lebrac, has an idea which will give his side the advantage: next time, he and his brave soldiers will go in battle without their clothes...

To his chagrin, young Marcel Pagnol and his family move back to their home in Marseilles, France, far from their pastoral holiday cottage in the hills. Determined, Marcel makes the long voyage back to the cottage on foot and lands himself in trouble. One day Marcel's father discovers a shortcut to the cottage, but it requires trespassing. Despite their trepidations, Marcel and his family begin using the secret trail to reach their cottage.

Matthias Duval is in love, but he can't choose between the two twin sisters Betty and Liz Kerner. To pick up the two sisters, he invents his own twin brother and will play both characters.

Having fortuitously discovered a photograph in which Marthe embraces someone unknown, clothed with a chequed jacket, Étienne Dorsay becomes jealous, and imagines various stratagems to identify the lover.
In the meantime, Étienne and his friends acquire a weekend house for a very low price.
As in the previous work, the film is largely narrated by the character Étienne, whose tone shifts with the reality of the images.
The film contains a certain number of allusions to the films of Blake Edwards (the Pink Panther series).

Alexandre, a young and honest farmer, is oppressed by an authoritarian wife, who makes him work like a dog. When she dies in a car crash, he decides to stay in bed, absolutely free and inactive. Just a dog is occupied to carry food and newspapers to him.