During the Christmas season, Christine, a singer and her friends find themselves penniless. She falls asleep and dreams that she goes to heaven, followed by her friends...

Cyprien and his friends Hector Colomb and Annette are penniless and desperate. They need someone to take an interest in them. One day, they decide to become volunteer castaways. To build their raft, they sawed down trees in the Bois de Boulogne. With the support of Caroline Grossac and her mother, they were backed by M. Grossac, a comfortable businessman with a keen sense of publicity. Launched in Saint-Tropez, the raft made only a short crossing. Nevertheless, the new privateers are acclaimed, and the wilful shipwreck business is so successful that it makes Hector and Annette rich, while Cyprien marries Mlle Grossac.

Charming and innocent, Candide is vigorously chased away by the Baron, for his close encounters with the pretty Cunégonde. World War II breaks out, and when he is drafted and taken prisoner, he is forced to take German nationality and ends up guarding the camp where he was imprisoned. He crossed into Switzerland, but as he had no bank account, he was incarcerated for eight days for trespassing. Hunted by the Gestapo, he kills two men to free Cunégonde, who has finally been found. They both flee to Argentina, and their world tour begins. In Paris, Moscow, New York, Borneo and Alexandria. They try to follow Dr. Pangloss' optimistic rule of life. Tossed about, separated, they find themselves grown old and wiser, thinking only of cultivating their garden on the shores of the Mediterranean.