An American tourist in Nice, France ambles the streets in search of a local Mardi Gras parade— Le Bataille Des Fleurs— in a resigned attempt to cheer up his ill wife, Anne. The tourist chances upon the parade and is immediately enamored by the beautifully resonant spectacle of the Battle of Flowers; thousands of smiling and laughing people in brilliantly colorful clothes fill the streets exchanging bouquets of fragrant, brightly colored Spring flowers. Hoping to bring Anne back to witness the great beauty and significance of the parade, the tourist takes back to the streets of Nice where he nearly loses his sense of direction en route to his room. 

The tourist, having found his room, rouses Anne from her sleep and bids her join the streets of Nice and witness the parade. Expecting the parade to have ended by the time they arrive, and unfamiliar with the foreign and labyrinth-like streets of Nice, the tourist and Anne board a trolley towards the parade. They make it to the parade in time for Anne to witness the procession, and the tourist reflects— in the image of a waning parade: crushed and smashed flowers, exhausted parade-float performers, etc.— on the ways that nothing lasts, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect. The tourist, however, contents himself in the happiness and wonder of Anne as she watches the parade pass.