it's an old story in a new frontier. [ train whistle ] ♪ i'm told you are a man who can help me. sometime in mid-century, 1850s, my great, great-grandfather immigrated to south america. he was reported to have died here. might have been a seeker of utopian dreams. you know, my aunt used to tell

storyings, -- stories, he was into arms smuggling or who knows. no idea. ies, he was into arms smuggling or who knows. no idea. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ sha la la la ♪ sha, la, la, la, la, ♪ sha, la, la, la, la, ♪ sha, la, la, la, la, la, la, la ♪

for most people, paraguay is an empty space on a map of latin america. ♪ a country of only 6 million, where a vast percentage of the land is steaming hot jungle or a huge scrub desert known simply as the chaco. only a few large cities offer a respite from the oppressive heat. ♪ [ singing in foreign language ] >> 1,000 miles upriver from the

atlantic ocean sits paraguay's remote capital city. known largely for being a post-war refuge for fleeing nazis and a long line of extremely unpleasant dictators, this place of all the places in the world is where my great, great, great-grandfather disappeared without explanation sometime in the 1850s. i'm told you are a man who can help me. how do you do? >> you are for the first time in the country? >> first time in paraguay, yes. >> ledo bar in asunsion has always been like the central switch board, a gathering place. ladies in orange vests cook and

serve old-school, working class food to people from all walks of life. >> this place is very unique. it's been here for more than 50 years. >> all right. let's get something to eat. i'm hungry. >> empanadas, big envelopes of dough filled with beef, onion, and hard-cooked egg. deep fried to perfection. cattle is the big business of this country, it used to be cattle and smuggling. these days it's still cattle and some smuggling. you see a lot of beef is what i'm saying. mm, oh, that's good. this country is a mystery to most people. what little we know of the country generally comes from nazis and germans hiding in paraguay for war crimes. do you think that's an undeserved reputation? >> i don't think that's fair. it's a nice country. it's a beautiful country. >> pedro is a private investigator. one of a team of people i sent

out looking for the mysterious lost bourdain. >> what types of investigations are you called upon to do? >> normally counterfeiting. >> this is sort of the counterfeiting capital of the world. in the old days it was said that much of this counterfeiting had partners in the government. not so much anymore? >> i rather don't answer that. i'm no politician. and i live here, so -- >> general alfredo stroessner was in charge. he ruled the country with a quiet bafarrian charm. but behind the scenes of another thing. utilizing an outfit of ss police referred to as the hairy footed ones, he tortured and tossed dissidents out of helicopters in the junkel and the list goes on. under him, one in four paraguayans are said to have cooperated, willingly or not, on their fellow citizens.

>> it's quite a history, crazy, tragic. >> things are changing a lot. and now things are getting straight. >> sometime in mid 19th century, 1850s. my grandfather emigrated to south america, first in argentina but apparently came here. that's really almost all i know for sure. he died by the sword? did he die of old age? did he die of syphilis? i have no idea. i'd like to know. i'd love to find a grave site. that would be great. my father died in '57. his father in, i think -- in his 20s, i believe. i'll be 58 in june. i think i'm the longest-living male bourdain in possibly ever. >> so you're lonely in the world? >> i am lonely in the world, yes. if i could solve the mystery of

the elusive grandfather, it would make me very happy. by the way, it would be terrific if you found out he owned a huge ranch in the chaco and they're waiting for his relatives to claim his property. [ laughter ] maybe not. i'm trying to make some sense of this country. you've lived here how long? >> i'm since 22 years, too long maybe. what a strange and nice country. >> go to paraguay, find a german to show you around. not so crazy or unrepresentative. people came to this country from everywhere, to, as emerson called it, make their own world. >> i'm tony. >> nice to meet you. >> so what's good to eat here? >> i suppose you want something paraguayan? >> yes.

>> a roast rice with fried beef with egg on top. >> i'm there. good. >> and there is a soup whose name is bori-bori. that's very, very old paraguayan stuff. little corn balls. >> that looks good. that looks very good. >> yeah. >> it's good, man. i'm trying to make some sense of this country. you've lived here how long? >> 22 years. >> why did you come here in the first place? >> i was born in east germany, and east germany means you will never go out. then in '89, the wall break down. and say wow, you will go! >> i haven't seen anything of this country yet, but what i read was the world's backwater filled with bombed-out banks that had been looted. institutions that didn't work. everyone carried a gun.

it was like the wild west but poorer. it's not like that any more? >> a bit of this is true. i myself got a .45 on my head last week. that's really common for me. >> seldom in the history of the world have i seen any country where one after the other, you've had absolutely the most manbackal insane, piss-pot group of dictators, century after century. >> you are right. even in stressful times, the better part of paraguayans was behind it. paraguayans are very, very easy to influence. and this is, i believe, unchanged until a short time ago. now there is a growing middle class, better education than before, and that makes the people say "no." ♪

>> how was the soup? >> i liked it, yes. was the way my wife cooks it. i like it better with chicken. but chicken is more for saturday. turn the trips you have to take, into one you'll never forget. earn points for every flight and every hotel. expedia plus rewards.

your customers, our financing. your aspirations, our analytics. your goals, our technology. introducing synchrony financial, bringing new meaning to the word partnership. banking. loyalty. analytics. synchrony financial. enagage with us.

the "r" word i want good digestive health... ... but i don't want to think about the word regularity. benefiber helps support good digestive health... and maintain... the "r" word. you know what it tastes like in water? water! except this water makes you feel great. benefiber. now in stick packs.

paraguay was a very poor country. the spaniards came because there was a lot of silver in the area. they found nothing, so they lost interest in paraguay. ♪ >> this is the only country in latin america where the indigenous language is the official language.

>> automatically they say i'm married to a paraguayan woman and when the fathers come in, they automatically talk in the language, and i'm more or less out. ♪ >> a proud society. >> yes. was it [ speaking foreign language ] >> el supremo. >> got to love it. >> 200 years of dictatorship. de franceive a insisted they become a mixed-race society. we are mestizos. they prohibit marriage between whites.

[ speaking foreign language ] >> today 95% of paraguayans are of mixed blood. >> and we usually speak two languages. >> right. ♪ >> the central market? this is the big one? >> the biggest one, the most popular one. ♪ >> i'm hungry. >> what's good here? >> we opted for the little fish. it's a catfish. and, okay. the saying is that it makes man very powerful. >> ah. >> what's he got over there?

that looks good. >> gnochi, stew. there was a good italian influence in paraguay, so maybe this stew comes from this side. cologne is from all over the world. >> so you invite them, give them the catfish soup. [ laughter ] >> the paraguayan soup. could you pass me that? >> soup. >> it's very unique. >> our dictator lopez, his favorite soup was corn soup. and one day he ordered his favorite soup and the cook, when he opened the pot, ah, it was a cake. >> paraguay has not been noted for its history of kinder, gentler leaders. in the 1800s, two generation of lopez, father and son, one dictator after the other, certainly left their marks on this country. >> lopez was known for putting a

wrong stamp on the letter, you get shot. the cook didn't want to get shot. he showed up in front of lopez and said this is paraguayan soup. and the dictator ate it and liked it. and a bit later, the entire country eat it. >> it's like cheesy corn bread. >> yeah. >> awesome. good meal. max ♪ >> so this was the house or one of the houses of the notorious madam lynch? >> yes. right. >> jourgeist, poet and author has written books on paraguay's history. who exactly is madam lynch? a murky background, would you say? >> somebody say a bright woman, or a very evil one. >> she came over on the famous trip from france? >> right.

>> seceding from france in the 1840s, lopez senior reversed many of paraguay's isolationist policies. he built one of south america's first railways. its steam engines taken out of service only a few years ago. and he said his son, francisco solano to europe. >> he sent him out what, to get arms? >> arms and technicians. engineers. and machinery. >> junior, by most contemporary accounts, was an idiot. >> so he came back with a mistress, madam lynch. >> yes. >> which dad wasn't too happy about. >> right. ♪ >> he was very traditional, and wanted his son to marry a

paraguayan woman and do everything by the book. >> right. >> paraguay's soon to be first mistress, madam eliza lynch was already married daughter of an irish doctor. ambitious, social climbing, fond of nice things. >> those imported from france, they say she brought to paraguay the first piano. and there were practice here. >> he showed madam lynch to his father, and his father was upset. so she was put aside. >> and kept as a mistress? >> and that was the way paraguayan society wanted to treat her. and she wanted to be treated as the -- >> princess? >> yes. >> tell me about madam lynch's famous boat trip.

on one of her more notorious ventures as hostess, she organized a grand outing to the new french colony. she wanted all of society to join her? >> right. >> magnificent steamer was engaged for the party. >> while there were some tensions between the paraguayan ladies and madam lynch. >> once on board, as the story goes, those mean bitches treated their hostess like so much trash. >> so she got upset and threw off board all of the food that they were supposed to eat. >> she had it all thrown in the river? >> yes. [ laughter ] >> then she ordered the captain to stop the boat and let her guests just sit there in that jungle heat for hours. >> throwing tubs of caviar, whole roasted pigs into the river in front of these starving aristocrats, somehow that pleases me.

[ male announcer ] you wouldn't ignore signs of damage in your home. are you sure you're not ignoring them in your body? even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. and if you ignore the signs, the more debilitating your symptoms could become. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in your symptoms with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. and then speak with your gastroenterologist. ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ [ female announcer ] fiber one. ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ thlook what i got.p. oh my froot loops! [sniffs] let's do this? get up! get up! get up! get up! loop me! bring back the awesome... yeah! yeah! yeah! with the great taste of kellogg's froot loops. follow your nose!

relish...the sweet pleasure of delivered straight to your face in accomodation paradise. ♪ booking.com booking.yeah! painstakingly engineered without compromise. to be more powerful... and, miraculously, unleash 46 mpg highway. an extravagance reserved for the privileged few. until now. hey josh! new jetta? yeah. introducing lots of new. the new volkswagen jetta tdi clean diesel. isn't it time for german engineering?

going back to the very beginning, various groups with stars in their eyes came here seeking to create a utopia along ideological lines. we populate north america with

-- we populate latin america with british, italians, you had everybody. >> it started with the jesuit colonies. >> the new bordeaux. i had a great, great, great grandfather come over to paraguay around the 1850s. >> right. >> might have been, himself, a seeker of some kind of utopian dreams. >> are they originally from france? >> from france, yes. >> what city, do you know? >> my great, great, grandfather was from near bordeaux. so i'm curious about this whole episode about the settlement of new bordeaux. ♪

♪ ♪ >> the paraguay river, still as it was 150 years ago, the country's main artery, a thoroughfare for transporting people and goods. ♪ ♪ >> so who lives out there? >> all the people we see fishing out on the river banks, are they fishing for dinner? >> most of them are fishing for dinner. call them poor people, but what is poor? they decide for themselves to live here. they could go to asuncion and start working on a construction place tomorrow. >> he has organized a trip upriver to see new bordeaux,

what was hoped to be a new france in the chaco. >> fish we bought today, 14 kilo. >> right. >> that's half a month's salary, and you get with bit of good luck in one night. >> right. ♪ >> outside of the cities, paraguay is sparsely populated. indigenous groups, a few settled europeans, mennonites, germans, and every so often, a fishing lure and shotgun salesman.

what are the shotguns for? bandits? varmints? >> to hunt deer and water pig, capy barra. >> that's a peace maker. maybe rogue nazis we could shoot. >> i am tempted by the offer of a cheap shotgun for sale, but reason wins out. >> i don't think we're going to buy a shotgun today. me, beer, shotgun, hot sunny day, a producer? that's not a good mix. ♪ >> unlike madam lynch's guests, i'm making damn sure i'm eating on this boat trip. ah, the most important part of any meal, cold, frosty beverages. >> you already had one. >> i started early.

here. cheers. oh, here we go. thank you. little fish in a mango salsa. >> you have the two most appreciated fish on the table here of paraguay. that's the catfish. that's the dorado. >> ooh, that's tasty. that's nice. so i'm curious about this whole episode of the settlement of new bordeaux. >> it came about 400 people. they were supposed to be about 1,000. they were supposed to be most of them farmers. but just 86 were farmers. >> who were the other people? >> they were tailors, shoemakers, musicians.

teachers and artists, and they were put in the jungle and left by themselves. >> why here of all the places in the world? people talk about the chaco as hell. ♪ i mean, it's hot here. it's dry. it's wet. it's fetid. if's difficult. >> mosquitoes. and you have all the ticks and vermin. >> a flatland of cactus and thorns and misery and cannibals. >> there were the indians coming down the river and killing everybody. there was the langua who if you entered the country, you are good food. >> did the paraguayans ever see this as a utopia? >> no. >> i'm sure not. >> what we have is new bordeaux. >> that?

>> yes. >> wow. that's kind of not how i pictured it. doesn't look like bordeaux to me. ♪ ♪ >> there's nothing much left of nueva bordeaux. i'm told a small museum of artifacts. the site where the colony once existed is now called -- [ speaking foreign language ] >> perhaps there was a communication breakdown somewhere, and he might have told the paraguayans, i'm bringing the finest farmers france has to offer and he might have told these french men, you'll get free property, you don't have to do anything, reach up into the trees and fruit and gold bars are dropping? [ dogs barking ]

>> in fact, they were thrown out in the cold and say, here you are, that's your land, go ahead. >> these poor french guys show up. >> right. >> lopez senior, and the government kept their side of the bargain. >> yes. >> they provided them with houses, equipment. >> tools and animals and everything. >> my aunt used to have one of these, made pressed sandwiches i think. okay, that's it. dig, grow. the settlers quickly found out that farming is hard work, and that the conditions in the chaco resembled the new france of their dreams. >> so they get broke, and they decide to leave the colony. >> how many french were left at

the end of the new bordeaux experiment? did any stay? >> some of them, but few. >> all right. any thoughts or hopes that my great, great gf ended his life here and leaving me a vast, unclaimed stake of cattle country turns quickly to dust. but it doesn't hold me back. i go through periods where it's hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. non-24 is a circadian rhythm disorder that affects up to 70% of people who are totally blind. talk to your doctor about your symptoms and learn more by calling 844-844-2424. or visit my24info.com.

on my journey across america, i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. t-mobile's network has more data capacity than verizon or at&t. it's a network designed data strong. ♪ who's going to do it? who's going to make it happen? discover a new energy source. turn ocean waves into power. design cars that capture their emissions. build bridges that fix themselves. get more clean water to everyone. who's going to take the leap?

who's going to write the code? who's going to do it? engineers. that's who. that's what i want to do. be an engineer. ♪ [ male announcer ] join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring america's future engineers. energy lives here.

♪

so, you guys have some information, perhaps, on my elusive great, great, grandfather? >> mm-hmm. ♪ i don't know what he did here. i'm hoping for something extremely glamorous, a river pirate, gun runner, drug smuggler. maybe he died in the saddle. maybe he died happy. maybe he lived out in the bush, surrounded by adoring indigenous women. i don't know. maybe he was an masseur for madam lynch.

i guess i'd be let down. >> i contact with historians and geniologists around the world and the history of your family is very interesting. >> oh, really? >> yeah. >> okay. your family, your grandfather came to montevideo. following the sun. >> the facts as i know them so far, i think are this. my great, great, great granddad, his son, same name, game to uruguay to live with his uncle. >> 1850, john bourdain moves. -- moves to asuncion. >> this is the document we have showing him arriving. >> there he is. >> at that time, he was a -- >> he was a hat maker. >> hat maker? i'm pretty sure he said hat maker, which i have to say disappoints me a lot.

the whole elusive wing of south american bourdains were "project runway" contestants of their day. >> madam lynch was fond of things like french couture? >> yes. and that changed the way of dress. -- dress in i sunsion. >> madam lynch might have been good for business. >> he put this in a light i can be enthusiastic about, by how forward-thinking my relatives were. >> his customers were a hat maker, the very people that treated madam lynch with utter contempt, did they live in the old colonial homes, the mansions we see still? in asuncion, that type of residence? >> yes. >> times were changing in south america too, in those days. society ladies craved the latest in french fashion. there was money to be made. ah, i'm bummed.

>> after this episode with the new bordeaux group came a triple alliance. >> he died in 1858. >> yes. >> it was a good time to die, this way he hadn't to join this horrible war. >> he missed the war? >> yes. the old lopez died. the young lopez got in power. >> our man becomes president? >> yes, francisco lopez. >> absolutely the most maniacal, meggalo maniacal, piss-pot dictator. he was rather unkind to his siblings. >> his brothers were killed. his sisters were jailed in tiger cages. >> tiger cages. >> and their mother was given some 50, 60, something.

>> the 60-year-old mother was flogged and beaten in front of them. not a nice man. >> he believed that he had a chance to get married with the daughter of the emperor of brazil. >> that's right. >> he was refused in very unflattering terms. thanks to lopez jr's expansionist ambitions, he dragged paraguay into a triple alliance war. >> he challenged all three neighbors. >> brazil, argentina and uruguay -- >> to war. this doesn't seem like a good idea. >> yeah. >> in what would become the bloodiest war in latin america's history, hundreds of thousands of paraguayans died. when lopez ran out of adults, he sent children into the field dressed only in rags, armed with sticks painted to look like guns. >> my great grandfather was a 10-year-old boy, and he was dressed like them because otherwise he was going to be enrolled in the army.

>> lopez was hunted down, but madam lynch survived? >> yes, she survived. >> with her money? she was allowed to keep her possessions? >> yes. >> in history, it's hard to find a more disastrous or more cruel or pointless campaign, it would seem. >> when all was said and done, as much as 60% of the population and 90% of the men of this country were dead. ♪ >> survivors were just like 50 or 40,000 people. so that's why you could easily understand why there was nothing here for 100 years.

♪ >> he dies here. >> yes. before the alliance war. >> an adult natural of france by the name of juan bourdain. >> cause of death? >> not specified here. >> is there a grave site? >> we are looking for. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ (dad) there's nothing i can't reach in my subaru. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru outback. love. it's what makes a subaru,a subaru. all around the world the dedicated people of united airlines ♪ are there to support you. ♪ that's got your back friendly. ♪ ever since we launched snapshot, my life has been positively cray-cray. what's snapshot, you ask?

only a revolutionary tool that can save you big-time. just plug it in, and the better you drive, the more cash you'll stash. switching to progressive can already save ye $500. snapshot could save ye even more. meat maiden! bringeth to me thine spiciest wings of buffalo.

♪ ♪

so i'm hungry. i'm really hungry. >> you know you want it. it's late, you've had a few. now you've had a lot. you want something greasy, savory, juicy, and nasty. >> this is it. the legendary lovito. >> that's right. that's what the people eat in the streets. >> an egg, a little runny, please. some kind of meat like beef patty thing. throw on your lettuce and tomato. two sauces, i don't know what they are. and frankly i don't care. soy sauce, too. because later like the ruins of ancient troy, egg on top of cheese on top of meat, now get in my stomach now! mm. sandwich is awesome. >> awesome good? >> good awesome. all my greasy meat dreams have come true. that's good. and at the last minute, the last

thing i give a steaming loaf about anymore is my long-dead relatives. i mean, i'm over it. here comes news of the big breakthrough. >> i talked with the historian, and he said it looks like your great-grandfather, what he was merchandising, it was definitely not hats. >> really? >> we have here jean bourdain. >> right. >> and what is he bringing? 200 boxes of fireworks. >> fireworks? >> fireworks. >> like firecrackers? >> there is not even more than 200 or 300 wealthy families who sometimes in the birthday would crack a little bit. >> uh-huh. so are you suggesting something untoward? >> weapons. >> weapons. >> yeah. >> he was a merchant of death? awesome.

my aunt always said he was a gun runner. we figured she was full of shit. she also said she was in the resistance, but everybody in france said that. [ laughter ] >> arms. so was he ever a hat maker? was this a cover job? was he a hat maker/arms? are all these local historians on the money here? was great, great, great grampy an arms dealer? needs 200 pounds of gunpowder. i've got you now jean bourdain. i've got you now. or was he simply a party supplier, selling fine french hats and little fire crackers to school kids. i don't know what to believe. >> and in 1858, unfortunately, he died. >> right. >> and he was buried here, two miles from here. the rich people's cemetery.

>> yeah. >> we can pretty well say on which area. he remains. he is there. >> wow. well, i guess we'll have to go look, huh? >> definitely, yeah. ♪ almost every day, you notice a few things. like the fact that you're pretty attached to these. ok, really attached. and that's alright. because we'll text you when your package is on the way. we're even expanding sunday package delivery. yes, sunday. at the u.s. postal service, our priority is...was... and always will be...you.

a wake-up call. but it's not happening out there. it's happening in here. [ sirens wailing ] inside of you. even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in your symptoms with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. and then speak with your gastroenterologist. but when we start worrying about tomorrow, we miss out on what matters today. ♪ at axa, we offer advice and help you break down your retirement goals into small, manageable steps. because when you plan for tomorrow, it helps you live for today. can we help you take a small step? for advice, retirement, and life insurance, connect with axa.

painstakingly engineered without compromise. for advice, retirement, and life insurance, to be more powerful... and, miraculously, unleash 46 mpg highway. an extravagance reserved for the privileged few. until now. hey josh! new jetta? yeah. introducing lots of new. the new volkswagen jetta tdi clean diesel. isn't it time for german engineering? dad,thank you mom for said this oftprotecting my future.you. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them.

if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. sir, we're going to need you on the runway. (vo) theraflu starts to get to work in your body in just 5 minutes. (vo) theraflu breaks you free from your worst cold and flu symptoms. (vo) theraflu. serious power.

[ animal sounds ] [ food sizzling ] ♪ sorry, little buddy, there's no escaping, paraguay loves their beef. perfect ratio, little bit of beef, little bit of vegetables. this is a sprawling ranch bigger than some of the countries i've traveled to, and it's been in the family going all the way back to the triple alliance war. hard life? good life? >> we are pretty happy here. we have everything.

>> 20 years ago, the chaco was not huge. and the last years it's booming. >> where is the boom come from? >> we are the second biggest soybean exporter, the eighth biggest cattle exporter. paraguay feeds the entire world for eight days a year. >> how many acres? >> 100,000 hectares. >> barbecue has to be included. >> if you have sausages. >> could eat this all day, and i will. >> barbecue, you are complete. [ laughter ] ♪ ♪ ♪

>> mm. that's awesome. so were there a lot of vegetarians in this part of paraguay? [ laughter ] >> here comes the highlight. >> look at that. pretty. beef short ribs are amazing. mm. so good. ♪ >> all of the books i read about paraguay are maybe 15 years old, and like the first says everybody has a gun, buy a gun. [ laughter ] [ speaking in foreign language ] >> this was not the paraguay i expected. at all.

>> please, we want to sing a song for you. >> a welcome song to the foreign people. >> yeah. ♪ [ singing in foreign language ] >> it says -- not says welcome stranger. it says welcome brother stranger. ♪ [ singing in foreign language ] >> the jean bourdain who died here in asuncion was my great, great, great grandfather. >> yes. >> this old cemetery.

>> it seems most likely that he was buried there. ♪ ♪ nobody i know. >> it's very, very likely that the tomb was just overbuilt, something on top. >> right. ♪ [ singing in foreign language ] ♪

welcome to my place of dreams. my spirit house. the city of ghosts. ♪