An aging Casanova experiences an intense homesickness for Venice and seeks permission to return, spending months awaiting a favorable decision. With reduced means and a tarnished reputation, he alternates modest diversions, literary work, and fleeting intimacies while revisiting memories of former triumphs. An impulsive decision to set out for home provokes encounters that contrast past grandeur with present decline, prompting sober reflection on desire, memory, and mortality. The narrative unfolds through journey episodes and recollections rather than a conventional plot resolution.