Product Description

'I found Serge's advice mostly useful and it would have been churlish to have refused his invitation to accompany him on a trip out in the country to 'forage for hidden treasures'. If the truth be known, I secretly couldn't resist the novelty of passing time with a bloke called Serge Bastarde'. When ex-blues drummer John Dummer decamps to France to start up as an antiques dealer and live the simple life, he doesn't count on meeting Serge Bastarde. The lovable (if improbably named) rogue and brocanteur offers to teach John the tricks of the trade in return for his help in a series of breathtakingly unscrupulous schemes. As the pair trawl through antiques markets and old farmhouses looking for hidden treasure, they get into more than their fair share of scrapes: whether they're conning hearty lunches from unsuspecting old peasants, secretly manufacturing priceless collectibles or losing a Stradivarius to gypsies. Filled with eccentric characters, high jinks and unlikely adventures, this is a hilarious romp through the real rural France.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16719 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-03
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
'Well written and set at an engaging pace... easy-to-read humorous account of one man's expat dream... is an enjoyable read.' --Living France, July 2009

Featured in Living Abroad Magazine, August 2009 issue.
--Living Abroad Magazine

`charming and wonderful, hilarious from start to finish... Fun Fun Read!!'
--In-store review by Julie of Waterstone's Lancaster, August 2009

`Get a copy. You'll love it.' --Antiques Diary, November 2009

`It's a funny as it sounds and then some... think of Only Fools and Horses fused with ´Allo ´Allo' -- St Christopher's Live-Your-Life e-zine, October 2009

`Dummer describes a very different France... Bastarde grows on you, with his imaginative lies and unexpected generosity.' --The Financial Times, 3 October 2009

`amusing ....a nicely observed insight into rural life in Southwest France. For the price, it's a bargain.'
--French Magazine, November 2009

November 2009 issue.
--Extract featured in French Property News.

Review
`Yes, Serge Bastarde is his real name: he's a rogueish French brocanteur... Highjinks in rural Aquitaine ensue.'

About the Author
John Dummer has worked as a journalist, broadcaster, press officer and band manager. Following a three-year spell in a windmill in Portugal he moved to the Aquitaine region of France where he lives with his wife, Helen, and works as an antiques dealer.

Customer Reviews

John Dummer can add storyteller to the list of his accomplishments.
John Dummer's sharply focused descriptions of the landscape, towns and villages, and the weather of the South West of France form a animated background for a series of adventures with an array of characters from some intimidating and belligerent peasants, only softened by a mutual love of the blues harmonica, to a sad little old man whose only companionship is a collection of antique dolls. The main character is Serge Bastarde, the brocanteur and mentor to the author and instigator of these adventures, and Dummer was not making the name up! This archetypal lovable rogue springs off the pages with great energy and good humour, and made this reviewer wonder what a splendid character for a TV series and who would play him. This book is an engaging and entertaining read with a style both literary and colloquial, very good descriptions merged with references to an alcoholic past as a blues drummer to his finding happiness with his wife and a very unconventional lifestyle in rural France. John Dummer can add storyteller to the list of his accomplishments.

Serge Bastarde ate my Baguette
Gentle, entertaining, sometimes funny account of life as an antique dealer in France. The narrative sometimes lacks a bit of punch, but there are some interesting characters on the way and, overall, I enjoyed it.Serge Bastarde Ate My Baguette: On the Road in the Real Rural France

A rather limp baguette
This is an collection of stories in the genre 'expat has amusing experiences after moving to rural France', and there are some good insights, but it is not very well written and a bit lightweight. I enjoyed it all the same.