Nouvelle-Aquitaine: how this area actually works
Gradignan, south of Bordeaux, is the overcrowded local that takes Gironde remand. It is a bus from the city, not a walk from Saint-Jean station or the miroir d'eau. Limoges, Poitiers and Angoulême are the northern spine of this oversized région, closer to the Loire in feeling than to the Basque coast. La Rochelle and the Charente coast are another day. Bayonne, Biarritz and Pau are the southern rail world, with Mont-de-Marsan in the Landes between them. Uzerche and other centre-de-détention names in the Limousin are not Gradignan. Spanish families from San Sebastián or Irun still need French papers if the person is held on this side of the Bidassoa.
A Basque or Béarn arrest is not automatically a Bordeaux booking. The DAP places by regime and space, including moves from Gradignan to a centre de détention hours away, or out of the région. Prévenus may need the juge d'instruction in Bordeaux, Pau or Bayonne. Condamnés need the permis for the house that holds them. Poitiers and Limoges used to feel like separate regions. They are one URL now and still not one parloir. La Rochelle and the Charente coast are another day from both Bordeaux and Limoges. Angouleme is another northern court town.
This page groups prisons recorded as Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It does not list people at Gradignan, Bayonne or Pau. GENESIS is internal. Read justice.gouv.fr and the notice. Do not copy a Toulouse-Seysses routine from Occitanie, and do not treat a Spanish visiting form as valid at Gradignan. Bayonne, Pau, Mont-de-Marsan and Uzerche are separate from the Gironde local. Poitiers is the northern edge. Bayonne and Pau are not a Bordeaux afternoon, and the Landes sit between them. Angouleme and Limoges are not the Gironde local. Remember how far Limoges really sits from Bordeaux.
Finding someone held in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
There is no public roll for Gradignan, Bayonne, Pau, Limoges or Poitiers. Ask the lawyer or the greffe. justice.gouv.fr does not list détenus. GENESIS is closed. A Bordeaux hearing day may be too early. Do not phone Gradignan and ask for a name. A cross-border rumour from San Sebastián is not a French location. Gradignan will not read a roll to a caller from the Basque side or from Limoges. Pau will not either. Bayonne will not either. Stop there.
Gradignan is not Bayonne, and Pau is not Mont-de-Marsan. Limoges and Poitiers are not the Gironde. If the letter names Toulouse-Seysses or a Spanish prison, change région or country. The permis must match the établissement. A Bordeaux permit will not open a Basque gate. Pau, Mont-de-Marsan and Poitiers are three more bookings inside this huge region. La Rochelle is an Atlantic branch, not Gradignan. Mont-de-Marsan is a Landes town and not the Gironde local at all. Keep them well apart.
Visits and family practicalities
Permission is for one house. Remand can require the juge d'instruction in Bordeaux, Pau or Bayonne. Gradignan's pattern is not a centre de détention in the Limousin. This page does not invent hours. Read the notice before you take the TGV to Saint-Jean.
Bring the identification required. Spanish or Basque documents help only if the établissement listed them. Phones stay outside. If the person moved from Gradignan to the Landes or to Pau, the Bordeaux plan fails. Re-check before you leave the station.
Getting around Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Bordeaux Airport and Saint-Jean station serve Gradignan, then a southern bus. Bayonne and Pau are a separate southern spine via the A63 and the rail toward Hendaye. Poitiers and Limoges are northern entries from Paris. La Rochelle is an Atlantic branch. Uzerche is a Limousin stop, not the Bordeaux tram.
Drivers should treat this région as several trips, not one afternoon. Summer traffic to the Basque coast and parking at Gradignan both eat a morning slot. Use the official address. Do not finish at the Place de la Bourse or at a Spanish station over the border.