You might not pay $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.

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

"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.' "

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

Depp fell in love with France while shooting the Ninth Gate here in 1998. Today, locals often spot him picnicking with his family, shopping for vegetables at the market and riding around the countryside on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

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," He, 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 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."

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 announced to Figaro that Chateau Calon-Segur, a Saint-Estephe third-growth, is his favorite wine. In addition to plugging Calon-Segur as his favourite tipple because it's both delicious and a great value, 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 expensive wine in the world.

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 huge collection of guns, (a paparazzi deterent) a habit he got from his father.