Nicholas Tibbell found Paris to be a lonely place for a shy and clumsy American. He had been in the city all summer for work and still, he dined only in the company of a book. He wished that he were raised in Paris and formed to become a daring and confident man. Outside his window, he saw two lovers kissing on the dark street. The enviable sight inspires him to call Betty, a love interest he left behind in New York City. While waiting for the call to connect across the ocean, he starts watching drama unfold between a group of three out on the street. Moumou, a young girl, and M. Barnary-Cointal, an old man, are arguing with Raoul, a young man. M. Barnary-Cointal yells at Raoul for abandoning Moumou, his daughter, to marry another woman. Raoul defends himself and explains that he tried staying with Moumou, but she was constantly somewhere else and never home. Moumou begins sobbing and attacks Raoul with her bag. She corners him in the street, and their fighting interrupts the kissing couple Tibell saw earlier. When Raoul finally walks off, Moumou mourns over how much she loved him and uses her high heel to damage his motorcycle. As M. Barnary-Cointal sits on the curb of the road, a luxury car pulls up in front of him. A woman storms out from the car, chased by an angry man demanding that she return his 300 francs. Still watching from his window, Tibbell is surprised by how much drama unfolds on the streets of Paris. The man from the car argues with the woman and slaps her. M. Barnary-Cointal steps into the situation, and the man angrily recounts how she made advances on him and then bought flowers while he was in the bathroom and left him to pay for them without a word. Inside the apartment, Tibbell hears his call connect through to America. The phone operator says Betty will not be available until an hour later, but he chooses not to reschedule the call. Outside, he watches as Raoul and his new bride sneak back to his motorcycle and happily ride off together. He closes his windows for the night and feels thankful he was not educated like the Parisians.