Peter Thomas, 53, a former marketing and communications officer from Ferryside in Wales, who has worked at fintech startups across Europe, moved to France with his Flemish wife Lies Wittens in 2023, after 16 years in Portugal<\/a>.<\/p>\n The couple splits their time between an ancient stone windmill near Vitr\u00e9, Brittany, which they paid just \u20ac40,000 for in 2012, and a 700-square-metre medieval complex with a tower in the village of Saissac, bordering the Pyrenees, which they purchased for \u20ac100,000 in 2018. <\/p>\n \u201cI am a totally convinced European,\u201d Thomas, who currently renovates properties, told The i Paper. \u201cThe EU is my home. I have worked, studied and travelled all over the continent. From being a penniless student, the EU enabled me \u2013 from the wilds of west Wales \u2013 to find love, culture, travel, adventure and an interesting series of varied careers.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas, who also has Portuguese citizenship, added that: \u201cFor me, being an EU citizen is not simply a piece of paper, but a deep part of my very soul. Brexit was an absurd outbreak of isolationist idiocy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Welshman hasn\u2019t set foot back home since the Brexit vote. However, he believes the UK will soon move closer to the EU, as he says many of the elderly voters who ticked \u201cLeave\u201d in 2016 have passed away and polls suggest there is a majority in favour of entering \u201ca kind-of Norway-adjacent close alignment with the EU\u201d.<\/p>\n If the UK were to rejoin the EU<\/a>, Thomas said he would buy a small coastal property in a Welsh-speaking part of Pembrokeshire or Ceredigion.<\/p>\n \u201cI now speak eight languages, but my Cymraeg has become rusty, re-learning it again in old age would be fun,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For now, though, the couple are pursuing their French dream<\/a>.<\/p>\n They lived for a long time in Portugal<\/a> but ultimately felt they wanted to be closer to the rest of Europe and preferred the \u201coverall joie de vivre of France to the melancholy saudade of Portugal\u201d and its overtourism and fast-ageing population, Thomas said.<\/p>\n Frequent wildfires were also starting to be a problem, with a few coming close to their farm in Marv\u00e3o in central Portugal.<\/p>\n In France, they like the Celtic aspects of Brittany, with its ancient megaliths, cosy pubs, stone-built villages and \u201cdeciduous forests\u201d. While Occitanie, and particularly Saissac, has a cosmopolitan, artistic vibe, a close proximity to Spain and a strong p\u00e2tisserie tradition. <\/p>\n Even so, Thomas says the windmill in Vitr\u00e9, surrounded by woodlands filed with roe deer, is a \u201ccrazily impractical, totally quixotic\u201d property: a tall stack of five, small circular rooms linked by rickety staircases and trapdoors with a medieval vibe. They spent \u20ac18,000 to repair the roof, add a kitchen, a deck, a shed for bicycles and garden tools, as well as to upgrade the drainage system.<\/p>\n When it comes to the renovations of the property in Saissac, sitting atop a ravine and picked for its stunning views of the Pyrenees, the couple have encountered \u201chidden structural issues\u201d, including the need to replace 14 eight-metre-long main beams, putting in place a new roof structure and removing 60 tonnes of accumulated building rubble.<\/p>\n The work will be completed in 2028, and will have cost upwards of \u20ac400,000. <\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge has been to reveal the original, noble spaces, expose the mostly 17th-century wooden coffered ceilings, and open up large, 100-square-metre rooms on each of the three main floors,\u201d said Thomas.<\/p>\n As in most medieval French villages, the property is the result of many centuries of building. The cellar has three-metre-thick walls and was likely the base of a watchtower for the village\u2019s 14th-century fortified ramparts. Several houses were built on top of the foundations from the 16th to the 19th centuries, with the current structure a \u201clabyrinthine\u201d stretching across three living units.<\/p>\n Even so, Thomas says they have no regrets about taking on such large projects. The Saissac house is a \u201cdaily joy\u201d, he said, with its views and access to nearby culture.<\/p>\n \t\tYour next read<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_279304572-e1767275067799.jpg\")
Peter Thomas and Lies Wittens in France. The couple splits their time between Vitr\u00e9, Brittany, and Saissac<\/strong> (Photo: Peter Thomas)<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_279304553-e1767275379459.jpg\")
Peter Thomas and his dogs with his stone windmill in the background (Credit: Peter Thomas)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_279304575.jpg\")
The view over the Pyrenees from the couple\u2019s property in Saissac (Credit: Peter Thomas)<\/p>\n
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