Château du Plessis

House Guide: Green Room

The 3rd floor is accessed by climbing the wooden spiral staircase in the tower at the end of the Entry hall.  Take a deep breath and please watch your head as you enter and exit this floor.  The door to the staircase is VERY LOW. 

The Green Room is one of the two bedrooms located on the third floor. The room has twin beds and is decorated in an English cottage style with flowered bedspreads, canopies and curtains. Wood furniture is painted in light colors. The hardwood floor is bleached oak.

You enter the room through the door on the left hand side of the 3rd floor hallway.  There is a light switch immediately to the left of the door.  Please mind the small step as you step in and out of the hallway.

A large armoire and a chest of drawers should provide you with ample space for your belongings.  Most empty suitcases will fit below the beds.

• Lights
• Windows, Shades & Curtains
• Bathroom
• Linens
• Radio
• Heat & Fan
• Locks

Lights

Since there are perhaps a few too many switches scattered around the room, the following is a list of the switches location as well as their purpose:
On the left side as you enter the room:  There is one light switches by the door:It operates the sconces on both sides of the door. 
Manual Switches: 
- The torchere by the window is operated by a sliding dimmer switch on the floor
- The lamps on the night stands and on the ledge are operated by a switch on the cord.
- The lamps on the table and on the desk are operated by a switch on the neck of the lamps.
Remote control switch:  The light on the ceiling fan is operated by the remote control located in one of the nightstand drawers.  There is one button that operates the light and the other turns the fan on and off.

Windows, Shades & Curtains

Windows: Windows open toward the inside in France.  This requires some thought and care when operating the windows.  Before opening the windows, the drapes must be open.  Before opening and closing the screen, the window must be opened.  Before opening or closing the shutters the window and the screen must be open.  Sounds confusing?  Well it is, but you will rapidly get the hang of it.
In summer time, we tend to keep one or both windows open.  However, the windows must be closed (particularly the West side window) during rain falls.  We always lower the screen when a window is opened.  At night we usually close the shutters for privacy while maximizing air inflow.  In winter, we usually keep both windows closed. 

Both windows are equipped with:
- 1 set of fixed drapes.  To let the light in, just pull the cord on the left side.
- 1 pair of roman shade.  To shade the room, lower the shades with the cord.
- 1 sliding window screen (“moustiquaire”) operating with a spring loaded pull in the middle of the window
- 1 pair of shutters folding to the “open” position and secured with a rotating clamp, sliding inside of the upper and lower steel plates in the “closed” position.
  Note: Before opening or closing the windows, make sure that the screen is fully raised.
Screens:  The screens are in fact rollup shades outside the windows.  To close the shades, open the windows (see above) and pull the cord down.  To lock the shades down push the little white plates on both sides all the way down and lock by pushing the little switches toward the frame.  Make sure the screen is securely locked before releasing the cord (the spring is pretty strong and the screen will fly open and stop with a loud crash, perhaps tearing or breaking if you let go of the cord).
To raise the screen, grab the cord, and push inward the 2 little white locks at the bottom.  Slowly raise the shade holding the cord until it is fully raised (the spring is pretty strong and the screen will fly open and stop with a loud crash, perhaps tearing or breaking if you let go of the cord).
Shutters:  The shutters provide darkness, security and privacy.  We usually close them at night during the summer in order to provide ventilation and to darken the room (the sun rises early in the summer). 
To close the shutters, first open the windows (see above).  Then unlock the rotating clamp, and unfold the shutters while making sure that they unfold inside the upper and lower steel plates.  You can lower the screens with the shutters closed if you keep the window opened.  You must raise the screens if you want to close the window with the shutters closed.

Bathroom

The access to the bathroom is through the small hall just outside of the room.  Please remember that you share the bathroom with the occupants of the “Green Room”.  The bathroom is heated by the radiator below the window.  The towel rack can be heated electrically, but we prefer that you do not turn it on as it is all too easy to forget to turn it off after each use, as it consumes enormous amount of electricity.  The bathroom stays warm enough when the heat is on, and when the heater is off as well.  The bathroom window, screen and shutters operate as those in the bedroom.  For privacy you can just lower the roman shades on the windows with the closed windows.

The bathroom fan is “ON” all the time and is quite effective, so there is no need to open the door for ventilation.  Be sure to securely close the shower door when taking a shower.  If by accident you spill water on the floor, wipe it off as soon as possible as the bathroom floor is not waterproof.  There is a squeegee in the shower.  We appreciate it if you would squeegee the shower door after each shower as water drops leave permanent stains on the glass door.

The bathtub in the little alcove functions as a shower/bath combination.  To take a shower you turn the left side valve the opposite way to the “shower” icon.  The right side valve controls the temperature.  35 degrees is comfortably warm.  For “hot” shower you might want to go to 40 degrees by pressing the safety lock button.  Be sure to test the water temperature first.  When taking a shower, please take care to carefully insert the plastic curtain inside the tub and make sure that the curtain is tightly sealed along the wall to avoid water spills on the floor.  If by accident you spill water on the floor, be sure to wipe it off as soon as possible as the bathroom floor is not waterproof.

There is a hair dryer in the second drawer of the sink cabinet.  You can use the drawers to store your toiletries when staying here.  We would very much appreciate your wiping off and drying the marble sink area as standing water tends to leave permanent water spots on marble.

The toilet has two flush buttons; the small one gives a light flush, the large one a double flush.
All bathroom supplies and cleaning products are stored in the cabinets below the sinks.

Linens

There is one set of clean bed linens on the bed, and two change sets in the small chest of drawers (one cotton set for summer and one flannel set for colder nights).  Each set is composed of:
- 2 contour twin sheets
- 2 flat top sheets
- 2 pillow cases
- 2 sets of blue and white bathroom towels
At night, the pillows on the bed fit precariously on the chair.  Once you have piled the pillows on the chair, you can roll the comforter over the chest at the foot of the bed if you choose to not use it. 

Radio

There is no TV in the room.  The radio is a clock/alarm radio located on the night stand. The radio is tuned to “France Classique” (102.5) which is a very good station.  To set the alarm, you may need to fumble a little, but once you get the hang of it is rather easy to set for daily alarm.  There are options to cancel week-end days which require more elaborate settings.

Heat & Fan

The central heater on the 3rd floor is pretty sophisticated and keeps the room and the bathroom comfortably warm during the winter season.  The heater is usually turned off from May through September.  Should you run into a cold spell, please contact the Gardien or Karen to have them turn the heater “on”. 

There is a day and night setting.  The day setting keeps the room to between 68 degrees and 72 degrees (depending somewhat on rapid shifts in outside temperature and more likely on which door is kept open or closed.  The night setting (10 PM to 6 AM) keeps the room between 60 degrees and 64 degrees.

There are two radiators in the room.  The radiator on the east side (front) side of the house has only an on/off valve.  The radiator on the west side (tower side) is set with a thermostatic valve.  It is set on “3” normally.  “5” is hottest and “1” is coolest (warm).

During the summer, the weather can be warm and humid.  Usually opening both windows fully (see window section above) will provide adequate ventilation with a gentle East-West cross draft.  However, if it gets particularly warm, you might want to use the ceiling fan.  Instead, the fan is operated via a white remote control unit located in one of the night stands.  There are 2 buttons.  The top one is operates the light feature. The lower switch operates the 3 speed fan.  The icon and the display indicate the chosen speed.  Note:  Make sure to leave the remote in the drawer of a night stand upon departure.

Locks

The bedroom and the bathroom have a privacy lock from the bedroom or bathroom side. 

We welcome your comments on how we can make the room more comfortable or enjoyable.  Feel free to comment on these instructions if anything is unclear or incomplete (or unnecessary for that matter).