paris

Imagine going to Paris to watch television! For some, such a impious prospect will make perfect sense over the coming week.

Nowadays, most of us know that TV drama is the new cinema; actors love it because they can get their thespian teeth into meatier roles, writers have a broader and more diverse canvas to write great TV novels, and audiences can go episode by episode or binge watch as their fancy takes them. Top-notch directors from Martin Scorsese, to David Fincher, to Danny Boyle are prime movers in the revived game.

Scandinavians are having a field day; Israelis are innovating. Cable and Internet technology has played its role: HBO was the original champion of this renewal, now joined by Netflix, Orange, Microsoft and hosts of others. Everybody is winning and the quality just gets better by the year.

So it's perfectly normal that Paris, the capital of world cinema, from 22nd - 30th April should be presenting the 5th edition of Series Mania at the Forum des Images in the centre of the city. It is a unique event where we get to see previews of first and second episodes of top drawer TV series from around the world as well as meet their creators, the famous show runners of legend.

Paris is one of the best tourist destinations in the world. It is considered the most romantic city on earth, and is certainly one of the most advanced cities in the world. Paris in the month of December is even more of a treat because of the all the lights, the glitter, and the decorations for the most celebrated event of the year- Christmas.

It is the mother of all festivals, and like all European capitals, Paris is decked out and spruced up to welcome the festival. Despite chilly winters, people are in a happy and cheerful mood to celebrate Christmas, and the happy faces and decorated shops tell the story to all those who arrive here in the last week of December.

As part of Foreign Fridays, we explore a different country each week through its most unusual, amusing and odd facts. If you want your country to appear, then simply get in contact with us either in the comments below or through Facebook or Twitter.

This week it is the turn of the France:

There are 600 steps up to the second level of the Eiffel Tower.
Then you have to get a lift the rest of the way to the top. 

It is the Eiffel Tower's birthday tomorrow. It will be 113-years-old. Ever since 1889, it has been one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world. Its unique structure and look were designed and built by Gustave Eiffel and unsurprisingly the tower is still the top tourist attraction in France today.