The A-list are swapping the French Riviera for this heavenly corner of Turkey – and I can see why

The people who work there are ridiculous. And when I say ridiculous I mean ridiculous. They are so kind and welcoming I felt they might have confused us with someone else. It was only when I saw they behaved like this to everyone that I relaxed. They are brilliantly organised and everything is just easy-peasy. Please could we play some cards and get some chips in that little back room? Sure. Would there be any way we could book that restaurant but pathetically early as the little one is tired? No problem. Do you mind if we get extra towels because our 16-year-old somehow uses four every time she brushes her teeth? Absolutely, they’re on their way.

It was my first time in Turkey and I turned to my husband and said: “We must stay here permanently.” It’s a 15-minute walk to the beach but there are bikes you can just jump on or lovely humans in navy polo shirts zipping about on golf buggies who are happy to take you. You pootle through the port which is awash with boats – creaky ones, massive ones, old-fashioned gullets. 

The beach is thin and is more like a long corridor but is beautiful and there are enough sunbeds to lounge on and, again, dazzling and speedy people hand out towels and water and buckets of pistachio nuts. We were having a jolly time, had just landed and looked around and thought this is smashing… and then we decided to go for a swim.

The water in Turkey is the best water I have ever, and I do mean ever, swum in. This is why Kate Moss now lives in Turkey (I mean, I’m genuinely not sure she has ever visited, but let’s not get bogged down with facts). The sea in this part of the world is 95 per cent H20 but the other five per cent is entirely made up of silk. I’m not making it up. If you are sitting there shaking your head saying, “I bet this orange lady has never been to the Maldives, or Greece, or Indonesia”, I’m afraid I have. I’m as lucky as they come, and the headline, the main “take out” from Turkey is that the sea is the best in the world.