01 September 2008

Theme Day: Sister Cities - the Ghost Town


Today is City Daily Photo's Theme Day and the theme is Sister Cities. According to one official list, Menton has three sister cities: Montreux, Switzerland, Noordwijk, Netherlands and Sochi, Russia. According to another it's Laguna Beach in California. Fortuitously, I'd had contact with a photographer connected with the Police Department of Laguna Beach as they wanted to bring a gift to the Police Department in Menton. So far that hasn't materialised so a re-think was necessary for today's Theme.

I'm posting a place I loved when I was there in June this year - a Ghost Town. It's called Grafton, just outside Zion National Park in Utah, USA. Massive mountains, arid landscape, burning dry heat - so different from the Mediterranean and yet so stunningly beautiful. As is Menton.

Recognise the building in the photo below? If you've seen the 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman and Robert Redford, you might. In the B & W photo you see Butch and Etta (played by Katharine Ross) riding around this schoolhouse - which, as is obvious, has now been restored. (perhaps slightly over-restored).


To see a great short video (2.26 minutes) plus commentary, of Grafton, please click below:






There are 148 fellow City Daily Photo bloggers from all around the world taking part in today's Theme. Do pay some a visit and enjoy - Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Stop Press: David from Tamarindo, Costa Rica DP has posted on Laguna Beach today - Laguna Beach is one of Menton's sister cities.

23 comments:

  1. This is certainly a huge contrast to Menton, Jilly.
    And I'd agree with you on the restoration.

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  2. Not sure that meets the definition of restoration!

    But love the pic of the "Raindrops are falling on my head" sequence ...

    Good "get out of gaol" approach to the Theme, Jilly.

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  3. Yes...a huge contrast...but changing it up is good! Wow, you really got around on your trip to the US this year! I like that you even included the video. Great work as always!

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  4. Most interesting set of photos for theme day.

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  5. voilà un jumelage original. Merci pour la vidéo, c'est une bonne idée.

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  6. Fast thinking as your original plan fell through!

    Sydney Daily Photo

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  7. Paul Newman...my hero. Hear that he's pretty sick these days! Your photo is terrific and Sally's right..very creative thinking.

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  8. Oh this is fascinating. My partner will like the Paul Newman link. Quite a comprehmensive post for what proved to be quite difficult for some.

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  9. I'm not sure what Grafton has to do with Menton or its sisters but who cares - this is fascinating.

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  10. I love the Ghost town shot; certainly a contrast to your part of the world.

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  11. I love ghost towns. This is a wonderful post.

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  12. Really enjoyed your video and info on Grafton. I grew up in Utah and this scenery brought back memories.

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  13. Great recovery. Although I'd call it a rebuild rather than a restore of the building.

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  14. Jilly,
    I posted photos of your sister city, Laguna Beach, California, on my website today!

    Tamarindo, Costa Rica does not have a sister city, so I proposed that Laguna Beach would be an excellent choice and explained why. I had no idea that Laguna Beach was already the sistere city of Menton. People in Menton should be very proud of this connection, and vice versa, as Laguna Beach is a wonderful, elegant resort town and artists community.

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  15. You're jumping around like an attention-deficit person! How did we end up in Grafton?!?! :-)

    Montreux I might have been able to scare up for you. Note to self: I should do an excursion there soon.

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  16. Too right, Z! ha-ha I did get rather carried away. In fact I'd been expecting pics of Laguna Beach and they never materialised so I decided to post a place I liked. No logic to it at al tho.

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  17. That is a lovely picture. I'm sure the ghosts will be happy to have a sister city, even if it is just for today :)

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  18. I was so excited to see pictures from Grafton. I've been there! It's one of many ghost towns in southern Utah that I've visited over the years. That area did a booming film industry business years back when "Western" movies were all the rage.

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  19. I'll watch any movie with Katherine Ross in it...oh yeah, Paul and Rob aren't bad either. Jilly, I like your creativity on this one. Speaking of Katherine, I just saw her in "The Graduate" the other night. Lovely as ever. Cheers! :-)

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  20. Very enjoyable interaction of the theme. A ghost town and one used for the filming of a memorable movie ... Interestingly my brother and his wife recently returned from a vacation at Zion National Park.

    Happy theme day.

    Denton from Greenville and the Daily Photo Map.

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  21. I do love Zion NP. Glad you got a chance to see it.

    Decker is doing okay right now. We changed out his collar from a regular one to a halter. I'll have to do a photo of him in it soon. Thanks for your prayers in that regard!

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  22. Beautiful photo. The video is great. Love the introduction.

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  23. There is no sister city for Inverness but I am enjoying looking at the photos.

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