Geneviève, lives with her widowed mother, owner of an umbrella shop in Cherbourg. She and Guy, a 20 year old auto mechanic, are secretly in love and want to get married. But her mother objects: Geneviève is too young and Guy is not mature enough or well established. In addition, he has not yet completed compulsory military service.
Shortly after, Guy was appointed to serve in the Algerian War. Before her departure, Geneviève became pregnant. They promise to wait until his return from Algeria.
While Guy is away, Geneviève, pregnant and strongly encouraged by her mother, accepts a marriage proposal from wealthy jewelry merchant Roland Cassard. He fell in love with her at first sight and promised to raise her as a child like his own.
Guy is injured and is released before the end of his two-year term, but when he returns to Cherbourg, Geneviève has already married. He struggles with anger, but ends up being cured by marrying Madeleine, a young woman who had taken care of his aunt Élise, now deceased. Inheriting from his aunt, Guy realizes his ambition to open a gas station.
Years later, Geneviève, now rich, traveling with her daughter, Guy's child, accidentally meets Guy at her gas station. While the two only have a brief conversation about the state of their respective lives, the conversation is clearly fraught with tenderness and unspoken regret.