1923. In the heart of an old English college, Edward Williams receives an engraving of of an unknown country house with an imposing facade, a sweeping lawn - and, just perhaps, something else.
Determined to gatecrash her ex-lover's funeral on glamorous French hideaway Île de Ré, former Hollywood siren Helen escapes her London retirement home with help of repressed English housewife Priscilla and they hit the road together in a race to get to the funeral on time.