1702: Gabriel-Mathieu d'Erchigny de Clieu is barely fifteen when he is sent to Martinique. His dream of the Americas becomes a reality. He grows sugar cane and soon earns a pretty fortune. In 1720, he returns to France, where coffee is all the rage in all the courts of Europe. The new beverage is pricey, so de Clieu hatches a plan: to grow coffee in the West Indies. But the Jardin Royal des Plantes keeps its coffee plants under close surveillance. As luck would have it, the niece of Louis XV's personal physician falls for de Clieu and steals two precious plants! His adventure has only just begun…