I had heard something about this, but found the English translation on the VPInfo site. (Thanks guys)
Dated: Dec. 15, 2007

Vanessa Paradis receives de chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres

The singer and actress Vanessa Paradis received a badge of knighthood on Saturday, by Minister of Culture Christine Albanel, who paid hommage to the "darling child of French music and cinema".
Vanessa Paradis "will always be the tiny eternel fairy of french music, first appearing on our screens in the late 80's to sing "Joe le Taxi" ', said the Minister.

''And furthermore, you have taken in (taken on?) more than a thousand faces (roles?), taking your doll-figure right to the top of french music and cinema" she added.

From "Noce Blanche" to "Atomik Circus", and including "La Fille sir le Pont", "Le Soldat Rose" and her latest album "Divinidylle" which was produced by Matthieu Chedid, she has "always kept her innocence and freshness, which have melted the public" at the beginning of her career, she adds.

Vanessa, 34, was accompanied by her companion and American Actor, Johnny Depp, and their two children.

Congratulations to her and her family!!

link: http://fr.news.yahoo.com/afp/20071215/ten-...-31281c2_1.html

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There is a followup note from another site (VPnet)

CULTURE/SPECTACLES
Récompense - Vanessa Paradis distinguée

EMUE ET TRES HEUREUSE. Hier, en milieu d'après-midi, à Paris, Vanessa Paradis a reçu les insignes de chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres des mains de Christine Albanel, ministre de la Culture, au cours d'une petite cérémonie très familiale. La chanteuse et actrice était au bras de son compagnon Johnny Depp, tout juste revenu des Etats-Unis où il a fait la promotion de son nouveau film (qui sortira le 23 janvier en France) « Sweeney Todd, le diabolique barbier de Fleet Street », réalisé par Tim Burton, avec Helena Bonham Carter. Le couple star était entouré de ses deux petits enfants, Lily-Rose et Jack, ainsi que de Corinne et André Paradis, les parents de la jeune femme qui fêtera ses 35 ans le 22 décembre, et d'Alysson Paradis, la soeur de Vanessa, également comédienne.

Christine Albanel a profité de la cérémonie pour rendre hommage à Vanessa, évoquant « cette éternelle petite fée de la chanson française apparue sur nos écrans à la fin des années 1980 pour chanter Joe le taxi ». En ce moment, tout va bien pour Vanessa : son dernier album, « Divinidylle », s'est vendu à plus de 200 000 exemplaires. Et sa tournée la conduira mercredi au Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy.

They were kind enough to translate the jist of this article below:
A translation of the article (except for the stuff we've already read in the first article)
- She was arm and arm with Johnny. He just returned from the US, where he was doing promo.
- Corine and André Paradis were there (Van's parents)
- They mention her birthday coming up on the 22nd.
- Alysson was there aswell.
- They say that everything is going well for Vanessa at the moment: Divinidylle has sold more than 200,000 copies, and her tour continues on Thursday in Bercy.

This honor is comparable to receiving a honor by the Queen, except that the title like Dame or Sir is not used.
I think it's so great Johnny and the children were there to see her receive such a great honor from the French government.
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Holly

Gosh how lovely!!!! I'm sooo happy for Vanessa! woohoo And she definitely deserved to receive that honor! She's been in showbusiness that long already and still stayed true to her own style, which is great. And what is even more admirable is the fact, that no matter how famous she (or her family) get, she's still absolutely down to earth...just like Johnny, really. You simply gotta love them!!!! :wub:

Thanks a lot for sharing this, Holly!!

Here is the translation of the Minister of Culture's letter/speech at the presentation:
It's a very rough translation.
Quote:

Saturday, December 15th, 2007

Dear Vanessa Paradis,

I am very happy to pay tribute to you today, surrounded with all those who are dear to you. You are the artist whom we saw grow, by whom we followed career step by step. And if you show the radiant calmness of the accomplished woman and the artist today, I think that you will all stay always a bit, for us, this endless small fairy of the French song, who appeared under our screens at the end of the eighties, in this too big pink pullover, to sing Joe Le Taxi. It was hardly twenty years ago. Nobody forgot it.

And however since then you have taken(made) one thousand faces, taking for a walk your face of a doll to the summits of the song and the French cinema.
You are this fragile and disturbing secondary school student, grievously being in love with of his professor in White Wedding, Jean-Claude Brisseau.
You are the Muse of Gainsbourg, who lent you her feather for your album
Variations Sur Le Meme.
You are the slender angel to which Jean-Paul Goude gives wings in a pop video for Chanel, which stayed in all of our memories.

You are this artist in the hot voice, been born for the swing, which filled the Olympia with an album composed by Lenny Kravitz.
You are this teenager grew up too quickly in Elisa, of Jean Becker, beside Gérard Depardieu and Clotilda Courau.
This woman - target, in black and white in the very poetic tale of Patrice Leconte, The Girl on the Bridge.
This singer of country removed in Atomik Circus, with Benoît Poelvoorde and Jean-Pierre Marielle.
You are the doll of musical story The Pink Soldier, written by Louis Chedid.
You are this singer who blended her voice of child, in the so particular stamp, in those of our biggest artists, for rare instants of emotion: The Whirl of life,(I'm not sure which movie this is) with Jeanne Moreau on the stage of the Cannes film festival in 1996, Mistral earning The Forestry worker with Aphorism, for the concert of the A---[edit] in 1998.
You always knew how to gather the biggest talents around you. It is besides your friend Matthieu Chedid who produced your last album, Divinidylle. Thomas Fersen, Brigitte Fontaine or else Alain Chamfort accompanied you in this adventure which is already a huge success.

Bohême, woman of circus, prostituted in the big heart, and soon « to be of passage » spellbinding and dangerous, in the film The Key of William Nicloux, you always kept this innocence and
this freshness which melted the public at your beginning. It is with a lot of pleasure and a sincere emotion that I pay tribute to the beloved child of the song today and
of the French cinema.

Vanessa Paradis, in the name of the Republic, we make you Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters.

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another bit from People.com

Johnny Depp, supporting Vanessa Paradis – with daughter Lily-Rose and son Jack – as the singer-actress was awarded knighthood status in France's Order of Arts and Letters. After the pinning ceremony, the Sweeney Todd star, sporting "a brown duffle coat and a hardware store of jewelry," an onlooker reports, kissed Paradis "very sweetly."
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Since the only photo taken was by the Minister of Culture, it was probably a private ceremony with no press allowed. Make sense since the children were there.

Congratulations Vanessa!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks a lot for the translation!!! That really brought tears to my eyes! It must be great to receive such an honor. As I said before, Vanessa definitely deserves this! I'm really happy for her! :)

C'est un honneur mervilleux! Congratulations to Vanessa. Johnny must be very proud of "his girl!"

Rose

Impressive!!

Nicci :angel

Thanks for that translation--Johnny & Vanessa have so much to be thankful for this year........

-Donna

Thanks for the translation Holly!

Thanks for the translation HOlly :D

Congrats to Vanessa. Such an honor and well deserved :thumbsup