The pet of a former resident, it has returned to the apartment uncommonly well fed and content, despite the prevailing economic deprivations. Equally mysterious is how the cat could have reentered the apartment without coming through the door. A search of the dwelling reveals a heretofore unknown window in the back of a closet. The amazed residents, who have been drinking all night, then stagger out the window and down the fire escape to a lower building and finally to the street below. Like Alice through the looking glass, the Russians have entered a French version of wonderland, full of bounty.
Ironies abound as well.
The Russians perceive Paris as a huge outdoor market overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables, but seemingly having no customers in line. Various little whimsical misadventures ensue. Funny as that line is, it is not very hard to imagine Paris winning a Darwinian contest as the most highly evolved of all cities. As the Russians pass in and out of their own apartment, they have to tromp through another apartment on the Parisian side, belonging to an exasperated young French woman sculptor. She and Nikolai end up in a semi-romantic relationship despite her energetic efforts to keep the Russians from turning her living quarters into their personal thoroughfare.