The mayor of Paris, Betrand Delanoe, took the occasion of the French premiere of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST on July 6 to present Johnny Depp with the Grand Medaille de Vermeil. It is the city’s highest honor for achievement and is only given to those who have displayed devotion to Paris. “I’m very honored and very touched, and a little bit shy,” Johnny said–in French–as he accepted the award. “This country–the city of Paris has been very kind to me,” Johnny added. “It introduced me to my beautiful girl Vanessa, and it gave me two beautiful kids. It doesn’t get any better than that.” The Zone thanks emma for supplying the transcript of Johnny’s remarks and emma and Charly for the the videos of the ceremony on our Video Clips forum.

To see a larger version of the picture at left, click HERE, and to see a photo of Johnny accepting his medal, click HERE. Thanks to bonnie and AnaMaria for the photos!