Having collected, among other things, cocktail sticks, electoral campaing badges, paintings of moored ships, rabits' feet, noises at five in the mroning, the labels on melons, birds' eggs and hangmen's nooses, Hector falls in love. Blissfully married, he turns his back on his old habits, only to become obsessed with watching his wife Brigitte washing windows. And so begins his new infatuation, collecting (and recollecting) beautiful moments spent observing his wife's every move.