Two tourists visiting France from New York sit on a terrace and breezily recount their adventures so far. Their clothes are a caricature of French culture. The woman recalls when she and another traveling partner crashed into the car of a French man, who was incredibly angry, and she does not comprehend why. She explains that this partner, Bill, lost tens of thousands of francs through gambling the night before. The man she is talking tells a story about how another American tourist accidentally broke the violin of another French man and gave him money in return, though this can in no way repay the sentimental value lost. The travelers are so ignorant that they cannot even recall the name of the French president. The woman points out some nearby American tourists, including a woman who encouraged everyone to skinny dip in the water, then turned massive searchlights on them to humiliate them. She reports gossip that the playwright George Bernard Shaw toured this area recently. The man says that he wants to stay another week; she says that French people annoy her because they do not speak English. They criticize the beautiful French water as being lousy.