INSIDE JOHNNY DEPP’S FRENCH RIVIERA RETREAT

Posted  by BOHOMOTH

Johnny Depp has been staying in Plan de La Tour in the South of France with Vanessa Paradis and their two kids Lily Rose and Jack since he flew into Nice airport with the children from America last week.

The little teeny village where he owns a £4 million holiday home (above) played a pivotal part in helping rid the actor of his demons surrounding celebrity and being hounded by paparazzi in Hollywood when he first got together with Vanessa.

The Viper Room owning Johnny of old used to regularly clash with paps in LA, London and NYC and he often talked later in life about their life in France and how he loved the simplicity of walking down the road to the sleepy little village, sipping an espresso and smoking a licorish paper roll up, then picking up fresh baguettes, brie and tomato at the local market before strolling home with his girl and his babies.

We were there yesterday and there’s only one main road, one restaurant and a café and a post office and a market.

It’s the perfect place to hide out for an American celebrity as most of the locals seriously would have no idea who Johnny Depp even is.

“Each morning, I can go to the little village not far from my chateau, have a cup of coffee, sit there with my girl and not worry about the paparazzi,” he told reporters in 2001.

“I love America. I love going back, seeing my family and friends – but it’s wonderful to get back to France and be living in a tiny village with nothing around. There is still the possibility to live a simple life. You can go to the market, walk about, buy fruits and vegetables – the things they did 100 and 200 years ago. We have moments when we’re sitting in our house and our kids are playing, and we look at one another and think, ‘Thank God we escaped.’”

Unfortunately, heavy French taxes meant Johnny spent less time there more recently and to my knowledge this is the first time he’s even been to the house in almost two years, but with him re-tasting this simple life again this week (the guys in the café above have seen him a few times) here’s hoping he puts down the booze, the drugs and the twenty-somethings in LA for good and remembers that the time he spent with Vanessa and their kids in this far-flung idyl was one of the few times in his life when he was ever truly satisfied and happy.