In Paris, there is a cafe, elegantly furnished with polished wooden tables and an awning of striped gold and green, whose walls are filled with vintage posters advertising drinks such as Green Fairy Liqueur, Mermaid Madeira and Red Devil Lemonade. And sitting on the bar is a large, silver, steam-powered espresso coffee machine. The cafe is owned by Monsieur Moutarde, and Monsieur Moutarde has made the most extraordinary discovery. With the help of his friend, Madame Pamplemousse, he has created a time-travel machine (for that is what the espresso coffee machine is). Very special, highly flavoured, intense ingredients are fed into the machine, where they are subatomically blended with quantum froth and space-time foam. The resulting liquid looks like a small black coffee but in fact transports the drinker through time and space. But this is a dangerous invention. For who knows what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands? Before long, Monsieur Moutarde, Madame Pamplemousse, her cat, Camembert, and her friend, Madeleine, are on the run through space and time to capture a T. rex's freshly caught drool and the tears of the rare sphinx - vital ingredients for a tonic that will both save them and revive the ailing spirit of Paris.