<DIV><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">After leaving his job at the University of Swindon, Michael Sadler returns to France intent on wooing Lou Charpin, his <I>belle française</I>. Unsure of his credentials he decides to woo her family at the same time. He plays Scrabble with the feisty, chain-smoking grandmother; attempts to explain King Lear to an adolescent more intent on sowing birdseed in his window boxes; and survives a family Christmas that quickly becomes reminiscent of a Greek tragedy. The final challenge lies in luring Lou away from her more-than-friendly acquaintance, the plutocratic optician who is unappreciative of rivalry from the barbaric north. In the end, will the Lothario from London win the girl despite it all?</P></DIV>