Located in the heart of the Arvert peninsula and the touristic region of Royannais, in the continental fringe of the "Côte de Beauté" and near the famous oyster farming zone of Marennes-Oléron, this small town is well situated in the western suburbs of Royan.

With its "sisters cities" Arvert, Chaillevette and La Tremblade, Étaules forms a small conurbation of 11,630 inhabitants, with many services and shops.

Étaules belongs to the agglomeration community Royan Atlantique (CARA), intercommunal structure gathering about 84,000 inhabitants.

The town of Étaules is located south-west of the department of Charente-Maritime and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in the heart of the Arvert peninsula, in the continental section of the "Côte de Beauté".

This has created a continuous built over nearly seven kilometers from the exit of Chaillevette up Tremblade and Ronce-les-Bains, characterised by the construction of many housing estates and residential areas that unite the old urban cores and many hamlets previously isolated.

Established along the estuary of Seudre, which here reaches an impressive width, they form a set which overlap land and water.

The countryside consists of humid green meadows and extensive gray-blue mudflats (the Seudre marshes) highlighted by golden lines of reeds, hedges, and aquatic plants with, in line of sight, the Marennes steeple forming a landmark, labyrinth of water space and light, which, in lockers shimmering in the sun (the "claires"), oysters of the basin are set to refine and where they acquire their flavor and special color under the action of a pigment (marennine) produced by a microscopic algae called "navicule bleue".

Natural area of rich flora and fauna, the marshes of the Seudre is a repository of rare plants and a bird sanctuary in the foreground.

Descending to the south, on the margins of the estuary of the Seudre, a little accentuated tray serves buttress these wetland areas.

Gradually, as it rises towards the Groies and Beauregard, he wears the vineyards for the manufacture of brandies known in the area, cognac and Pineau des Charentes, as well as local wines.

Formed in Cretaceous limestones heights are in places covered with superficial formations (silt, clay) where some forests flourish.

Forming a transition zone between the coast and dune formations (Saint-Palais-sur-Mer, La Palmyre), they are a relic of the former Gulf of Arvert which became the Barbareu Pond in the Middle Ages, which initially connected to the sea by a small outlet (cove Brajado, now Bréjat) has gradually filled over the centuries, under the action of masses of dune sands which have cut off all communication with the estuary of the Gironde.

With the closure of the outlet of Bréjat, canals were dug to prevent water stagnation, long disease vectors.

Vast green spaces consist of wet meadows crisscrossed with ditches and punctuated by groves, Saint-Augustin marshes are home to a rich and varied flora, which rushes mingle, pulicaires, water plantain or irises.

The La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport, 50 kilometres north, has services to some major French cities such as Paris and Lyon as well as the British Isles and Northern Europe.

After the 1831 organic law mayors were appointed (by the king for communes with more than 3,000 inhabitants, by the prefect for smaller) but councillors were elected by censal suffrage for six years.

It was on 28 March 1882 that the current law on municipal organization was passed which governed the principle of election of the mayor and the deputy by the council whatever the size of the commune (except for Paris).

The school organizes sports activities throughout the year, including swimming lessons at the pool of Saujon and sailing courses at Ronce-les-Bains.

It is managed by a SIVOM (Syndicat intercommunal à vocations multiples) and aims to accommodate children outside school times.

It is a Summer camp without accommodation offering crafts, expression workshops, games, and activities (tree climbing, swimming, horseback riding, etc.).

Designed as a 'Espace multiloisirs ", it is located close to the main stadium and sports facilities of the municipality (skate park, fitness trail).

This recreation area for children reinforces the existing supply in neighboring municipalities including Arvert, which also has a "Parc de Loisirs" of equipment provided to the youngest.

The transmitters at Royan-Vaux-sur-Mer and Niort-Maisonnay allow the reception of 18 free channels of Digital terrestrial television (TNT) across the whole commune including the local France 3 Poitou-Charentes station.

Trades and services are booming as a consequence of the development of the area and the benefits of tourism which does not only concern the coastal communities.

The proximity of resorts on the Côte de Beauté (Saint-Palais-sur-Mer, La Palmyre, and also Ronce-les-Bains ) and a pine forest on the outskirts of the town (Forest of la Coubre) account for a growing increase in tourism which has helped in the establishment of appropriate infrastructure (campsites, guest houses and accommodation "Cap France") and a tourist office in the city centre.

The construction sector, which is in third place, has also had great development and employs 16.7% of the work force: a figure to be compared with the departmental average which is 10.6%.

The town centre has two supermarkets (Coop and Vival), two bakeries, one butcher, one library/newsagent, two restaurant (Italian and one fast-food), one bar, two estate agents, a computer store, and two hair salons.

The commune is located in the linguistic area of Saintonge, a dialect belonging to the family of Langues d'oïl branch of the Romance languages, which also includes French, Angevin, Picard, and Poitevin with which it is often grouped in the broader classification of Poitevin-Saintongeais.

Pork preparations dominate the regional cuisine: The Saintonge kitchen includes many recipes for cagouilles, the local name of the brown garden snail.

Traditional desserts are from peasant cuisine: Millas (cornflour cake, found in much of the South-West of France), galette charentaise (Charente waffle) in Charentes-Poitou butter, or "merveilles" (doughnuts).