Kiwi expat Amy Connell who lives in Clermont-Ferrand with her rugby player partner Fritz Lee said the backlash from the shootings in Paris is already being felt there.
Despite being about 400km away, she said that people were on edge and were afraid to leave their homes.
"I was in a bakery today and a guy walked in wearing his motorcycle helmet, but he had a balaclava on underneath and you could only see his eyes," she said.
"Everyone ran out of the bakery, it was crazy. Everyone is just on edge, the whole place is."
Connell said the shooting at the Jewish deli also made people fear that more attacks were imminent.
"Everyone is just really scared. We were on our way to the gym and another friend got a call from her husband telling her to turn back because he could see smoke in the city. No-one wants to leave home," she said.
"People are just waiting for what's going to happen next, they're waiting for the next big thing to happen."
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