Matthew Morgan is a retired American professor in his eighties, a widower. He lives in Paris and speaks no French. Since his wife's death, he's marking time. His curiosity is piqued when he meets Pauline Laubie, half his age, a dance instructor. She's also a solitary person, but wants the connection of family. She believes she's found that in Matthew, and she attends to him during a hospitalization. When his two adult children arrive from the U.S. to check on their father, they are certain...

Julia Child and Julie Powell - both of whom wrote memoirs - find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.