THE celebrations in connection with the fifth centenary of Joan of Arc will this year draw many visitors to Rouen .sx Of those that go , it can be safely said that a large number will find that the ancient Norman city will recall them for a second visit .sx For Rouen has its fascination .sx For many , the first charm of the city is the cluster of old-world streets in the ancient quarter between the Halles and the river .sx Here still stand old fifteenth-century houses , with their upper storeys jutting forth over the cobblestones of the narrow streets .sx Here the pavement frequently dwindles to the mere six inches that sufficed in the Middle Ages .sx In this part is the Place du Vieux Marche , where a white statue and a tablet on the paving mark the spot where in 1431 a stake was erected , and Joan of Arc died for her cause .sx Near by one may see , in remarkable preservation , one of the old feudal chateaux , the Hotel du Bourgtheroulde .sx In the quiet of its courtyard , flanked by bas reliefs which commemorate Francis I and Henry VIII , and beneath the beautiful dormer windows and Gothic pinnacles , there is little to recall that one is living five centuries later .sx In the interior of the building , the ancient profession of banking is carried on in premises rather more romantic than usual .sx Another Renaissance facade may be found near the Tour Saint Andre .sx It is the carved front of a house that once belonged to Diana of Poitiers , Grande Senechale of Normandy , whose memory is recalled by a recent biography .sx A feminist of a type less idealistic and , one fears , more modern than the peasant maid of Domremy , she too swayed the destiny of France .sx In her beauty and her materialism she typified the Renaissance .sx Through many picturesque streets one reaches the quays along the Seine .sx Here , those still alive enough to thrill to the romance of overseas trade can spend an enchanted hour .sx Although Rouen is inland , the width of the Seine has made it the foremost harbour of France , and the quays are lined with ships from all the ports of Europe .sx Across the river stretch acres of docks , warehouses and railway trucks , all awaiting the cargoes that the busy cranes are seizing from the holds of steamers in the harbour .sx If , returning from the quays , we turn to the right , we find ourselves nearing three of the world's Gothic masterpieces the Cathedrale Notre Dame , the Eglise Saint Maclou , and the Eglise Saint Ouen .sx Their interiors are visions of beauty , with peerless stained glass , and those miracles of detailed carving in which the patient journeymen of the Middle Ages , proud of their job and their craft , paid eternal homage to the ideal of the day's work truly done .sx It is well worth your while to go out of the city , across the river , and to ascend the Colline de Bonsecours .sx From here is obtained a magnificent panorama of Rouen .sx On one side of the river one sees the serried mass of the manufacturing quarter for Rouen is the great cotton centre of France .sx To the other side lies the ancient city where we have just been , and we can distinguish the tapering spires of its old churches and the Cathedral .sx In the distance the Seine is spread out before us , and we have a bird's-eye view of the little islands along its curving course .sx Immediately below the hill lies the Gare du Nord .sx Around Rouen , in the last war , were great British concentration camps , and it was from the Gare du Nord that many left for the front .sx One of the many interesting buildings that your guide will point out to you is a small white building in the middle distance .sx This is , in a way , the last relic of the English occupation of Rouen .sx For it was built by the Duke of Bedford , almost the last English governor of Normandy , as a home for old fighting men , broken in the wars .sx From the brow of the hill , the city is overlooked by a statue of Joan of Arc .sx From here , every year , a procession of children leaves to commemorate her memory by casting roses into the Seine , at the spot where , long ago , her ashes were scattered into the river .sx The city still abounds in memories of Joan .sx Many places associated with her long trial and imprisonment can still be identified .sx Perhaps the most striking is the Tour de Jeanne d'Arc .sx This is the round tower with a pointed roof that one sees when coming down from the station .sx It is the former keep of the great fortress of Rouen , which was built in 1207 and was an English stronghold during the occupation .sx From this castle ruled the governor of Normandy .sx In 1431 that post was held by Richard Beauchamp , the stout-hearted Earl of Warwick , who had the reputation of being the most perfect gentleman in Europe , and who had , in his younger days , carried out the ancient tradition of knight-errantry .sx Into his hands was given as prisoner the strange girl who had shattered the English armies at Orleans .sx So it was in the old castle of Rouen that Joan of Arc was held as prisoner , during the long months when the churchmen demanded her death , and the weary trial dragged on .sx In the one tower that still stands , the Tour de Jeanne d'Arc , Joan was threatened with the instruments of torture .sx We are likely to spend a last hour in a final stroll .sx round the rambling streets of the old city , more picturesque than ever in the dusk .sx In the evening Rouen seems very much like Canterbury , or any other of our own cathedral cities .sx So much so that you might imagine that you were not abroad at all !sx And , after all , that is only natural , when you remember how long Normandy and England were linked in the same dominion .sx About Switzerland .sx BY G. M. CROSS .sx A GREAT deal has been written of the charm of Switzerland .sx Perhaps more and more beautiful photographs and pictures plain and coloured have been made of it than of any other country .sx And yet no description , however talented , no picture , however artistically coloured , can ever convey an adequate idea of the charm of Switzerland , for the Swiss air I mean what I will call the " moral " as well as the .sx physical atmosphere contributes very greatly to it .sx Geneva is the first Swiss town at which I stayed , and the name brings back to my mind the great grey stone houses with their straight rows of mullioned windows in the upper storeys , in the steep , narrow streets of the old town running up to the Cathedral where John Knox and Calvin once preached ; the brightness of the Flower Market in the Place Molard , the flower-decked lamp-posts and fountains ; the big hotels by the Lake with the diplomats and pressmen of sixty nations crowding their halls ( for it is September and the League Assembly is in Session ) ; the little harbour guarded by its miniature white and gold light-house , and the Jet d'Eau that ( on Sundays and holidays ) shoots a column of water 300 feet into the air to fall in glittering rainbow-hued drops near the bathing-beach that is crowded with brown-skinned sun-worshippers .sx Outside the Jardin Anglais , with its charming fountain , children are selling bunches of the sweet-scented little mauve cyclamen that grows in such profusion on the Saleve , and the cafes on the Quay are crowded with tourists and journalists , diplomats and intriguers of many nations .sx A tall striking figure , crowned by a big felt hat worn aslant , strides over the cobbles with a little swagger , as though life were a great adventure and he the Prince of Adventurers .sx " Nansen , " whispers my neighbour .sx Nansen head and shoulders above the little men and women about him , a real internationalist in that city of " international " organisations , over whose bridges as once over the Pont d'Avignon all the world passes .sx And will pass , for though Nansen , alas !sx will visit Geneva no more , the new International City now rising in the Ariana Park will fix the home of the League of Nations there for many a year .sx If Geneva is dominated by the green Saleve and the distant wall of the Jura , Interlaken is overshadowed by the Jungfrau .sx Wherever one is in the town the great peak stands out , dazzling by day against the deep blue background of the sky , awe-inspiring by night with summer lightning playing around it .sx Interlaken , like Geneva , is an international city , but how different !sx For the visitors of all nations who throng its Kursaal , stroll past its alluring shops , eat ices on the terraces round the new swimming-bath , or rise at dawn for the first stage of an attempt to conquer the Jungfrau , are of quite a different type from the habitues of Geneva .sx Many and most varied are the attractions which Interlaken offers to the visitor , and one's only difficulty in filling up time there is the bewildering variety of excursions and visits from which one can choose .sx Do you want to climb ?sx Then the Jungfrau awaits you .sx ( For the affluent there is a comfortable railway , so that they can breakfast at Interlaken , lunch on the Jungfrau Joch , and be back at Interlaken for dinner , at a cost of Fr .sx 45 .sx ) Marren and Grindelwald , with their glaciers , waterfalls and glorious mountain flowers ; the Schynige Platte , with its Alpine Garden and marvellous views , the delightful lakes of Thun and Brienz , with their comfortable steamers all these and many more lovelinesses may be visited from Interlaken .sx Tesserete I visited in the late Spring when the fields were gay and scented with many flowers .sx Wistaria was in full flower , and how charming its mauve clusters looked against the white-walled houses , or the grey hotel pergola .sx I wish I had space to do more than mention the charming scenes that everywhere meet the eye round Tesserete .sx You climb up the steep winding road from Lugano by car or by a little train that runs beside the road , and ever and again as you round a bend a glorious view of the deep blue lake , with Monte Salvatore in the background , meets the eye .sx The fortress-like church with its tall campanile is the most striking object in the village .sx All around , tiny villages with Italian names are perched on hillsides , each with its white campanile rising from a cluster of flat-roofed houses .sx Great chestnut woods , vineyards , and the blossoming fields cover the lower slopes of the mountains in whose higher crevices snow lingers .sx As you climb , small brown lizards dart across your path , larger green ones with surprising bright blue faces gaze at you in surprise .sx Tall , graceful women , to whose bare feet wooden clogs are strapped , clatter past you carrying enormous bundles on their heads .sx Do you want to bathe ?sx Lake Origlio is only a mile away .sx Are you interested in art ?sx In the church at Ponte Capriasca is a " Last Supper , " which is said to be by Leonardo da Vinci , who spent his summers here .sx Do you want gaiety ?sx You can get down into Lugano in half an hour .sx But I cannot imagine anyone wanting to leave Tesserete , once there , till they are obliged to do so !sx If I speak of Giswil last it is because I have no words left to describe it to strangers to those who know it none are necessary .sx They will remember its incredibly neat houses with bright frescoes or painted verses beneath their wide eaves , the pleasant valley and lakes on either side of the village , the whispering beech woods and the gleaming white crown of the Wetterhorn above them , the romantic gorge of the Klein-Melcha all these and many more charms they will remember , as I do .sx For I think of Giswil often and affectionately as of a Swiss home , a place for rest after wandering , for quiet and peace a place that comes to my mind when I think of Switzerland more frequently than any save one but that is another story .sx