User reviews

An historical plot with a close likeness with "Les Misérables". This story is about the "Compagnons du Tour de France" : This workmen's ancestral association where every member had to be a long time student before he produced his masterpiece to become a graduated member. After Waterloo (1815), Toussaint Rouveyre, an ex-captain from the Napoléon's army, tries to find and to kill "Tourangeau Saint-Quartier", the murderer of his brother. He joins the association of workers in which Tourangeau, a brutal guy, is well known. He chooses the surname of "Ardéchois coeur fidèle". He succeeds in finding Tourangeau, but Toussaint alias "Ardéchois coeur fidèle" detects a courageous person and decides to learn more about his personality. During this time, he becomes his road's companion and saves his life. But this story can't have a happy ending.

During the history of French TV industry, you had two "period" series that were very very successful in terms of audiences: JACQUOU LE CROQUANT in 1969 and ARDECHOIS COEUR FIDELE (1974). It is a tremendous characters study, a terrific friendship story, very rare. I admit that during the late seventies or early eighties, you hade many French series speaking of history of France, and the Revolution in particular with the unavoidable Napoleon wars veterans.... GASPARD DES MONTAGNES, JACQUOU LE CROQUANT, FABIEN DE LA DROME, ARDECHOIS COEUR FIDELE, TROMPETTE DE LA BERESINA, JEAN ROCHE COIGNET.... The actors are purely awesome, especially the two leads : Claude Brosset, Sylvain Joubert....