Merde happens - Stephen Clarke

Paul West finds himself in serious financial trouble, prompting him to take an unscrupulous job requiring him to travel across America in a Mini, while feigning the stereotypical British persona. Accompanying him on this journey are his French girlfriend, Alexa, and his American friend, Jake, a poet whose personal mission is to have romantic encounters with women from every country around the globe, ideally in the cramped confines of Paul's Mini. As they make their way from New York to Miami and then venture westward, it becomes clear that the lack of space in the Mini is the least of Paul's problems. His job is being undercut, his travel itinerary is falling apart, and his relationship with Alexa turns into a battleground of French and American tensions. Paul is well aware that combining love with conflict inevitably leads to chaos, or as he puts it, "Merde happens."