Johnny Depp and his longtime partner Vanessa Paradis didn't take their separation lightly and tried valiantly to keep their family together, a source tells PEOPLE.

"They've tried for months to save the relationship," the source close to the couple says, "but have known for weeks that it couldn't be saved."

Last week, Paradis arrived in France where she is promoting her film Je Me Suis Fait Tout Petit at the Cabourg Festival of Romantic Cinema.

The source says the timing of the couple's separation announcement purposefully coincided with Paradis's trip to France. "It was all decided before she got on that plane."

As PEOPLE reported in January, Depp, 49, and Paradis, 39, have been living separate lives for many months.

The couple are parents to two kids, Lily-Rose, 13, and Jack, 9. The French-born actress and the American star who famously never married, have not been seen at a public event together since 2010.

Vanessa did not attend any of the promotional events for recent film Dark Shadows or The Rum Diaries, in which he starred alongside blonde bisexual actress Amber Heard, 26, whom Depp has been romantically linked to.

滬江娛樂快訊：據(jù)報(bào)道，約翰尼·德普與相戀14年的女友已于數(shù)月前低調(diào)分手。杰克船長的經(jīng)紀(jì)人今天也證實(shí)了這一消息，稱德普和相戀14年的法國女友凡妮莎·帕拉迪絲已經(jīng)“和平分手”。據(jù)悉，德普和帕拉迪絲育有一兒一女，但兩人一直沒有結(jié)婚。有消息稱德普與一同出演《萊姆酒日記》的性感女星艾梅柏·希爾德頻傳緋聞，這也導(dǎo)致他和帕拉迪絲也因此跌入谷底。兩人曾試圖挽救關(guān)系，可是最終還是以分手告終。