Michel de Montaigne wrote that it is equally possible to fail at solitude as it is to fail in the company of others. Delphine is a character who desires to be alone when she is with other people, but wishes to be with other people whenever she’s alone. She does not know how to use solitude.

This places her in a trap, desiring a kind of connection she wants in opposition to all others. But this is how one fails at solitude — desiring an escape for it. Delphine doesn’t understand her own feelings or the feelings of others, something that will come into sharp contrast in the next scene.

But for now, Delphine is back to wandering. It’s Friday, July 27, and she is rambling along the Seine as sunbathers line the shore. Delphine looks completely out of place among them, so it is not surprising that she quickly abandons whatever plan she had in mind and goes back to her ramble.

She comes upon a cafe and sees someone she knows, a very attractive blonde woman named Irene who calls her over. Delphine hasn’t seen Irene for awhile, because she soon finds out that since they last connected, Irene has been married (for a second time, saying it’s serious this time) and also had a child. She also tells her that the marriage has good moments and bad, it’s been difficult. It’s important to keep in mind during “The Green Ray” that the character of Delphine is something of a mirror on French culture — if you pay attention, you get an interesting cast of side characters, but Delphine is so wrapped up in herself that she doesn’t pay a great deal of attention to any of them.

Delphine catches up Irene on her all-over-the-place summer and Irene offers her a life raft, a her brother-in-law’s apartment in Biarritz, another act of kindness falling on Delphine’s lap. No one ever offers me free lodging at a resort, I guess I don’t spend enough time moping around the city and whining to everyone about it.

It’s about a six hour train ride from Paris to Biarritz, so it’s good that the movie now jumps ahead five days to August 1, she’s done some preparing and traveling in between, we assume. Delphine gets to the beach and continues being Delphine. Her alone time at the beach reminds me of the SNL skit of tours of Italy, that a tour cannot fix the underlying problems of your life, you will still be the same unhappy you on vacation in Italy.

So we see her walking in the water amid a crowd of people and laying on the beach a bit — and she still seems solitary and miserable. Delphine doesn’t do solitude well. She doesn’t seem to have any interests. She is rarely seen reading. She doesn’t go to the movies — or even enjoy people watching.

Later, we see her in the apartment, where she takes down all of the family photos and puts them in a drawer. Then she disinterestedly thumbs through an art book.

We’re now on Thursday, August 2 and Delphine is wandering on a rocky portion of the beach, where she comes across another playing card in the wild — this one a Jack of Hearts, which I assume is a good sign of love in the future.

The next scene, which continues on the same day, will feature some lovely older people, mostly women, having a discussion about the Jules Verne novel “The Green Ray” and the sunset phenomenon that ties that book to this movie.