The story revolves around a woman who might have been an Albertine, a Françoise or a Josette, but who ultimately turned out to be a Maria... Which sees her regularly explaining that she’s not Spanish, Portuguese or Italian. Maria is a smiley, shy and awkward 45-year-old who works as a cleaner. She’s never without her floral notebook, in which she secretly writes poems. Oratio, an old bear of a man who’s been her husband for 25 years and who is indeed Portuguese, listens to Fado music all day long. When Maria is hired at Paris’s School of Fine Arts, she meets Hubert who has worked as the school’s erratic caretaker for 20 years. This "active depressive", who’s learning how to sway his hips Elvis Presley style, will bring a bit of colour to Maria’s cheeks. But our heroine has always been faithful, quiet, devoted and compliant – what will she do to resist his charms? And isn’t it high time she opened the door and let life flood in?