You might not spend $16,000 for a bottle of 1978 Romanee Conti in a London restaurant and hang around with Rolling stones bad boys Keith Richards and Ron Wood, but you can spend a week or two living like Johnny Depp in a French Chateau.

At 40, Depp loves to play loud electric guitar, wears clothes that could use a cleaning, occasionally orders $16,000 bottles of wine in restaurants, and pals around with Rolling Stones bad boys Keith Richards and Ron Wood. He also has a large collection of guns, (a paparazzi deterent) a habit he got from his father.

Depp is also known for his love of french wines.  He recently confessed to having his "Winona Forever" tattoo abbreviated (via laser) to read "Wino Forever."

He spends 6 months a year when not filming living happily in a village in France with his wife Vanessa Paradis former Chanel girl and their 2 children, Jack and Lily-Rose.

Depp fell in love with France while shooting the Ninth Gate here in 1998. He is regularly spotted by locals riding his Harley-Davidson, picnicing with his family and shopping for veggies at the village market.

"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.

He says he is shocked by the gun violence in American schools and feels it is far safer raising a family in France. "I want to raise my baby away from all the weirdness."

Neighbours say "He's someone who will join us old men for a friendly game of Boules on a Sunday afternoon then have a drink at the bar," Depp, Paradis and their two kids generally go marketing on Thursday mornings and can be seen on many Sunday mornings wandering around an open-air flea market. It is a very normal family life.

"Johnny often has a little chat with us in French. He's good, but not fluent yet."

He announced to Figaro that Chateau Calon-Segur, a Saint-Estephe third-growth, is his favourite wine. In addition to plugging Calon-Segur as his favourite tipple because it's both a great value and delicious, he's admitted to admiring grand estates Petrus and Chateau Cheval-Blanc, in addition to Burgundy's Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, purveyor of the most high priced wine in the world.

If you can not go out and buy a chateau like Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt, you can rent one for your next holiday or for a french destination wedding.  Nothing beats a wedding in France in a castle for wow factor.  A destination wedding package makes a fairytale french wedding affordable. 

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