As the Iron Curtain opens René, an art student from East Berlin, joins crowds of people streaming through the Brandenburg Gate into West Berlin. Three days later he steers his tiny Trabi across West Germany to Paris where he hopes to begin his career as a painter. Arriving in the French capital in late autumn, he settles down on the slopes of Montmartre near the Place du Tertre where he seeks inspiration in surroundings frequented by artists. However, adapting to life in a totally strange milieu saps both his time and energy as he is confronted with a culture so different from the one he has