A gypsy family travels the roads of France during World War II, followed by Little Claude, a young boy seeking a new family after his parents left and never returned. Upon reaching a town where they traditionally stop to work for a few months, they learn that a new law forbids them from being nomadic. Theodore, the town's mayor, and Miss Lundi, the schoolteacher, try to protect and help the gypsies. Despite this, they are arrested and placed in an internment camp. Theodore manages to rescue them and offers them a piece of property where they can settle. But the gypsies' ingrained thirst for freedom makes this sedentary lifestyle difficult to bear. After Theodore and Miss Lundi are arrested for resistance, the gypsy family decides they must get back on the move in order to retain their freedom.