Mrs Mortimer, who is French but lives in Orange, said she and her parents made several attempt to contact her brother before they finally heard he was unhurt

“We were very scared and stressed about it,” Mrs Mortimer said.

“What’s happened in Paris is very sad.

“It could have been my brother [injured].”

Mrs Mortimer said she had been overwhelmed by the support she’d received from her Australian-based friends and those on Facebook.

“I really appreciate all the people who have messaged me or contacted me to say they hope my family is safe,” she said.

Mrs Mortimer will return to France in April and, despite some trepidation, is determined to go.

“I don’t think people will stop going to Paris; it’s a beautiful city,” she said.

“You can’t stop living because of this.”

Mrs Mortimer, whose father is a Muslim, said she worried the terrorism attack would incite intolerance of people of different races and religious backgrounds.

French-born Morgan Assie, who has been in Australia for four years, is both sad and angry by what happened in Paris.

“These are just normal people who are being killed for nothing,” he said.

Mr Assie said he had spoken to his cousin who is in Paris.

“He wasn’t close to where an attack happened but he heard the explosion,” he said.

“He said it’s like a battlefield in Paris, with the bodies and the military everywhere.”

Mr Assie said he feared people would avoid travelling to Paris.

“You just never know what will happen,” he said.

Orange resident Christiane Rondeau, who moved to Australia from France 41 years ago, said the terrorist attack was “absolutely crazy”.

“It’s not something anybody thought would ever happen,” she said.

Miss Rondeau said the ease of travel between European cities made national security more difficult.

“The world is so open,” she said.

“Anyone can pretend to be who they want to be.”

Miss Rondeau said she was pleased her family and friends were safe but knew others weren’t as lucky.

“It’s very hard for families to lose someone like that; for someone to take their life for no reason,” she said.

Miss Rondeau visited France in October and found security at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport very good.

However, she said people throughout Europe might now feel uneasy in public places.

“You don’t know who is sitting next to you,” she said.

Despite what’s happened Miss Rondeau said people shouldn’t be deterred from undertaking everyday activities.

“You can’t stop living. Everything has a risk and if it’s your day, it’s your day,” she said.

“[But] I’m glad I live in Australia.”

tracey.prisk@fairfaxmedia.com.au