Maybe it’s because I’m getting older but poor chess etiquette bothers me more than it used to. In my last tournament, I was paired up in the last round, against a young woman rated in the 2100’s (about 150 pts above me). She was talking to her boyfriend before the game started, which is OK. But once the game started, she made moves instantly, then got up to talk to him about 20 feet away. Several times he came over while it was my move, looked at the board and looked back at her with various facial expressions, then he’d walk back to her and they’d talk. I didn’t know if they were talking about the game but it seemed pretty obnoxious at the time. I was thinking about either saying something to them or the director, but instead I just focused on the game (and won in very satisfying fashion!). Has anyone had similar experiences, and how did you handle it?
I would have quietly informed the director and left it up to him/her to observe the situation. I would not have said anything to my opponent. This is what I did when I had a young opponent using the MonRoi device and I noticed him fiddling with it and the screen changing rapidly. The director came, observed, had a quiet talk with the kid, and that was that.
This comes up in larger events fairly often, especially when dealing with younger female players. They tend to attract a crowd of younger (and often fairly high-rated) male players. It can understandably unnerve an opponent of one of the younger female players to see said player in repeated conversation during a game with, say, a 2400-rated male player. 
My solution is typically to use the rough equivalent of a nuclear deterrent. I just tell all the players involved that they have been observed conversing repeatedly during their games, that they should not talk at all when their games are in progress, and that if they do, they risk forfeiting the game they’re playing. The deterrent, to date, has not been employed.
I probably would have handled it the same way. If my opponent does something that irritates me, I analyze their activity to determine if it is pre-meditated, giving them the benefit of the doubt. If their activity is not pre-meditated, and they stop doing it, then that’s the end of it. However, if they continue with their apparently innocent, but irritating activity, I may politely tell them stop. They almost always do. If they do not, then we both know that they are doing something deliberately meant to annoy. At that point, I might ask a friend or perhaps a player at a nearby board to observe. If my opponent persists in their deliberately annoying activity, I’ll consider informing the TD. It makes it easy for the TD if I have corroborating witnesses.
I don’t always say something to an opponent who is purposely trying to annoy me. Some people just want to start an argument to get inside your mind and affect your thought process. I can let some things slide rather than play into their game. On more than one occasion, their poor sportsmanship backfired on them because it inspired me to stay focused on the game and make (perhaps) better moves than I normally would have made. Similar to what you did.
Noise also bothers me more than it used to. I can deal with the general noise of a large playing room but I have problems with conversations and excessive eating/drinking noises within a few feet. A few months ago, the guy playing next to me started humming whenever it was his move. Drove me crazy! I finally politely asked him to stop and he refused to believe that he was making any noise and started arguing with me. Maybe headphones are the answer but I don’t really want to resort to that.
50 years ago at the old Pittsburgh Chess Club we had an old Swiss guy name Joe Schoen. Joe looked the part - long white beard and alpine hat! When Joe thought he had made a good move Joe would start to loudly yodel. But since he only played skittles or 30/30 games noone really minded. We loved old Joe.
Foam shotgun earplugs cut down the decibel level considerably.