For the first time in France, the work of the teachers and students of the famous Dusseldorf Fine Arts Academy are brought together: Bernd et Hilla Becher, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Lothar Baumgarten et Katharina Sieverding, aswell as artists who choose to live in Dusseldorf, like Beat Streuli. Tracing the history of photographic objectivity in Dusseldorf from the late 1960s up to the present, with special emphasis on the influence of the 'Becher School' on the international art scene, the exhibition presents Andreas Gursky's formal abstraction via the theatralisation of certain aspects of Candida Hofer's or of Axel Hutte's work, the pictorial tradition of Elger Esser or of Simone Nieweg, or the reference to the screen of the most recent works of Thomas Ruff. Not to be missed.

This latest exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo sheds new light on the enigmatic poet, painter, magician and creator of a new religion that was Aleister Crowley. Ruminating on a series of newly discovered works, many portraying occult scenes from the Abbey of Thelema which he founded in Sicily in the 1920s, ‘The Nightmare Room' offers a fresh and intriguing insight into this mysterious man. The paintings range from influential studies for his Thoth tarot cards, to images of a primitive and often hallucinogenic paradise. Coming from an artist whose work has been highly influential in the world of 20th and 21st century counter-culture, these works offer a new perspective and potential re-evaluation of the cult figure. TM

Courtesy of the German collective Photoautomat, the Palais de Tokyo hosts an authentic old-school (non-digital) photo booth, which spits out – remember? – a vertical strip of four black-and-white photos, and for only 2€. This endearing flashback of a contraption is also installed in various outposts in Berlin and Cologne. SM

Part art installation, part hotel room, the Hotel Everland juxtaposes the exclusivity of an ephemeral experience with the visibility of a high-profile location: the rooftop of the Palais de Tokyo. From this vantage point, guests of the mobile hotel ‘pod’ designed by art duo L/B (Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann) will be able to enjoy an unadulterated view of the Eiffel Tower, as well as the material luxury of daily room service, breakfast in bed, a personal concierge, and lush linens. The hotel stays in Paris untiil the end of 2008 year before traveling elsewhere (it was previously on the roof of the contemporary art museum in Liepzig); booki online. The price of this priceless experience? 333€ or 444€per night. MBK

Opened a year ago, the Sezz is still out there as definitively the most avant-garde hotel in Paris. It’s not just the extraordinary décor of slate-lined rooms with vibrant shag-pile rugs, bed in the centre of the room and state-of-the-art bathrooms that are either in the room or behind glass; the whole approach to serving guests has been radically rethought. On arrival you are shown to the Champagne bar where you sit in works of art posing as furniture. A walkie-talkie-equipped android appears in Matrix gear and proceeds to log your personal preferences into a PDA which will later be used to pre-empt your desires and needs. You can call them any time of the day or night when a sushi craving or some such whim descends. The downstairs salons incorporate a private screening room and there is a gym and steam room. All this makes it rather incongruous that it’s located in bourgeois Passy; however, the fact that this is the road where Last Tango in Paris was filmed may add a frisson as you fondle each other’s tootsies in the yin and yang formation bath tubs in room 72.

'Sesame-roast John Dory with stir-fried veg, 25€.'
Bon is bon again thanks to new owner, Philippe Amzalak of Flora Danica/Copenhague fame and chef Bruno Brangea. Whatever went wrong in the past must have been pretty serious to keep people away from this fabulous Philippe Starck designed space, the precursor to his Cristal Room. You enter the Belle Epoque pavilion and are confronted by a silver quilted wall, mirrors, bottles and a sushi-conveyor belt bar where the talented Ruth-Elise mixes sublime cocktails under a revolving lit candelabra. The main, skylit dining room was full on a Thursday night, with a private birthday party in a lower room. The menu is big on fish, which can be grilled or steamed according to choice. A sashimi starter was ill-advisedly paired with a strong sesame marinade, but the tuna and green tomato tartare was more successful. Roast John Dory rose from its bed of stir-fried vegetables like a white wave, and the saffron risotto topped by six king prawns was nutty in texture and satisfying in taste. The strawberry and rhubarb crumble was lukewarm underneath but the chocolate tart with citrus sorbet unctuously good. A few small errors in the kitchen then, but the place rocks with a relaxed, moneyed crowd.

'Chicken breast in coconut milk, fruit curry and lemongrass rice, 17€.'
Because it looked like a funked-up school canteen we’d never been particularly inspired to eat here before – but once you’re inside all thoughts of cold mashed potato disappear. The Palais de Tokyo’s restaurant rocks, especially on summer evenings when you can sit outside on the terrace. The inside space with its flying saucer lamps and weird and wonderful loos has the benefit of The Human Juke Box who proposes a parallel menu of eclectic hits; you can order David Bowie with your beef tataki and Coldplay with your croustillant de chocolat, and suddenly they’re playing your song! The menu is a round-the-world ticket with distinct flavours – the chicken curry is real curry and the beef teryaki brochettes were fabulous. They also serve ambrosial ice-creams with flavours such as caramel à la fleur de sel or honeyed gingerbread, and our Mont Ventoux red went down smoothly.