( CNN ) A lot of people have ventured to Paraguay over the years in search of some sort of a dream . My great-great-grandfather , Jean Bourdain , was one of them . I 've looked for this mysterious ancestor before -- in Uruguay , with my younger brother Chris . We were disappointed when our trail ran cold . We were left with a cryptic reference to the news that Jean had died in Asuncion , Paraguay . Which raised the questions : `` What the hell was he doing in Paraguay ? '' And `` Where is Paraguay , anyway ? '' Roots : Our Journeys Home . It 's certainly a country few of us know much about . Landlocked by its better-known neighbors , Paraguay is probably best known for being a hideout for escaped Nazis and for a succession of truly spectacularly lurid , out-of-a-comic-book dictatorships -- the last being the administration of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner . It 's certainly a country few of us know much about . Landlocked by its better-known neighbors , Paraguay is probably best known for being a hideout for escaped Nazis and for a succession of truly spectacularly lurid , out-of-a-comic-book dictatorships -- the last being the administration of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner . When I first looked at the possibility of making a television show there , many years ago , descriptions of the country by visitors were not promising : crime , corruption , counterfeiters , failed institutions , looted banks -- in short , a backwater . I thought I 'd use the dubious quest for `` The Missing Bourdain '' as the spine of a show , a framework to investigate one of the least-known nations in the Americas . My crew , looking at various storytelling structures , settled on the terrific film `` The Limey '' as a rough template . In that film , Terence Stamp , playing a just-out-of-prison career criminal , voyages to Los Angeles in search of answers after the death of his daughter . In this week 's `` Parts Unknown '' episode , I explore Paraguay ( and my family 's past ) in similar nonlinear fashion . It 's an amazing-looking show . Everybody who worked on it , handcrafted it , is convinced it 's some of their best work . What I found out -- about Paraguay , about my family -- surprised me . I hope it entertains you .
he is looking for the story of his long - lost great - great - grandfather in Paraguay .