[1][2] A poetic novel about his family and early years rather than a literal autobiography, Pagnol opens with the stories of his two parents, Joseph and Augustine, and his arrival in 1895 as their first child in the little town of Aubagne among the mountains of Provence.

So much so that in 1904 they agreed to rent a remote farmhouse outside the village of La Treille, where the two families can spend their summer together and get back to the simple pleasures of rural life.

While he and his little brother Paul spend their days in happy play among the hills, his father and uncle have a weightier business.

On the great day, the two set off and young Marcel disobeys them by following, for he is terribly worried that his shy spectacle-wearing father will be humiliated by the loud know-all uncle.

The whole community is lost in admiration for his unparallelled feat and the priest is so impressed that he overcomes Joseph's atheist scruples by rushing home for a camera to record this historic moment.