Alaçati, a bobo fairy tale in Turkey

Beyond the kitschy shops that play techno music and where multicoloured bracelets adorn the shelves, past the restored mills on the heights, past the church-mosque... welcome to the heart of Alaçati, where the deafening noise gives way to a captivating jazz melody and the rhythms of the Buena Vista Social Club.

The cobbled streets are lined with potted plants and brightly coloured flowers next to a few wooden benches that sometimes double as terraces. The path ends at street crossings, where there are small squares often embellished with a restaurant and its terrace covered with a canopy of ivy or fuchsia bougainvillea.

"Bazen? Ah, that means "sometimes" in Turkish. Sometimes in Istanbul, sometimes in Alaçati," says Banu Maga, a Stamboulian who divides her time between the big city and Alaçati, as she did when she was a child.

Banu Maga is a typical example from Alaçati. For many years, she came to spend her holidays in the village. She grew up and decided to rent one of the village's typical stone houses. "This is a dream for me; a mixture of everything I love".

Some of Banu's father's works, as well as his own ceramic creations, are on display at Bazen, although none are for sale. However, you can buy his bohemian-style jewellery and silk caftans.

Banu is not alone in this respect. Eskiden, Oktay Durna's marvellous shop, sells ceramics and glass objects that are between 150 and 400 years old. As for Yesim, also a ceramics artist, she has just opened her own shop, Sapa da Tilla, where she sells her creations (when I visited, the shop was out of stock - a good omen!) as well as organic products and local textiles.

As if in a fairytale, I wandered through the streets of this small, relaxed village, wandering through the little alleys and deserted squares in search of little-known places - and my curiosity was rewarded.

I spotted a turquoise-blue wheelbarrow against a wall, marking the start of a path traced by blue and white chairs abandoned in an alleyway just at the entrance to a small square reached by a stone arch.

There, little pumpkins from the garden left out in the sun caught my eye. I passed through the stone arch as if through a magic door and landed in an enchanted garden, planted with trees decorated with lanterns. The small square surrounded by a stone wall served as a restaurant: Asma Yapragi.

Family-run and local, just as charming but a little more chic, the Agrilia restaurant serves mainly Italian and Argentinian dishes in a more contemporary setting than that of Asma Yapragi. For cooler nights, the place to go to feel the warm atmosphere and taste Nalan Kocaoglu's homemade dishes is the charming restaurant, Eflatun.

For a less elaborate lunch or just a drink, Sudan is the place to be in the village. You'll also benefit from the sharp, expert eye of Leyla, the owner. The minimalist but bobo decor is very chic and the atmosphere relaxed.

The irregular floorboards, a sort of cabinet of curiosities made up of objets d'art and local organic produce set up on trestles, solid wood tables with little bouquets of orange wild flowers next to a copy of Patti Smith's book "Just Kids" in Turkish, and the largest collection of back issues of "National Geographic" are all part of the cosy-chic interior.

For a more modern, open-air feel, head to Alarga, a neo-bouzo restaurant with industrial overtones, as the yellow steel sign outside suggests.

When I had the opportunity to attend the PWA World Tour stopover in Alaçati in August 2013, I naturally jumped at the chance. Firstly, it was my first visit to Turkey, and secondly, I had the opportunity to sample the chic life with its aperitifs on the terraces that I'd heard so much about.

As well as being a veritable paradise for windsurfers and kitesurfers, thanks to the ideal weather conditions (Alaçati benefits from the Meltemi, which is always on hand), the village of Alaçati, less than 16 kilometres from the main windsurfing spot, has for the last five years been home to numerous boutiques, art galleries and restaurants.

But Engin soon realised that surfers weren't spending enough money to get the project off the ground. So he started building schools to teach windsurfing to the curious, a project which, to his surprise, turned out to be much more lucrative than simply inviting windsurfers to come and test their new spot.

Since 2006, the annual PWA World Tour event - a highlight of the social calendar, whether in Istanbul or Izmir - has put Alaçati on the map.

As my curiosity led me to wander the streets, I came across a boutique hotel, another and another. The hotels in this little village are 'boutique' in every sense of the word - few rooms, lots of charm and an intimate atmosphere.

It's rare to find a hotel with more than 10 rooms. They usually have just four or five, decorated with personal style and taste. Comfortable and with a rather relaxed service, the hotels in Alaçati really are like a second home.

These typically "bobo" hotels are nestled in flower-filled courtyards, in neighbourhoods where the locals talk to each other from window to window, take siestas listening to the birdsong and cicadas, and meet for a drink on the terrace at sunset.