Zazie is an energetic, saucy little girl from the suburbs who comes to Paris with her mother Jeanne for the weekend. Jeanne has an urgent appointment with her lover, so Uncle Gabby will be looking after Zazie. Zazie particularly wants to ride the Metro--the subway--but the train staff is on strike. So after the obligatory sightseeing trip to the Eiffel Tower, Zazie loses her uncle and embarks on a series of madcap, rather Rabelaisian adventures. While visually borrowing from silent films and cartoons, there is quite a lot of humor, social satire, cultural and linguistic commentary (drawn directly from the novel) that is incomprehensible without a thorough knowledge of French history and culture in the post-war period. To the average American viewer, it is best approached as a surrealistic, farcical slice of French life and enjoyed accordingly.