Post office manager Philippe longs for a transfer to the sunny, sophisticated south of France. But when his attempt to cheat his way into a transfer backfires, he is sent instead to Nord-Pas de Calais. This northern province is known for its chilly dampness, its drunken, unemployable population, its terrible food and an impenetrable dialect known as Ch'timi. But Philippe soon learns to love these people so much that he must devise a strategy, with the help of the natives, to keep his left-behind wife from discovering his secret.