Essex resident Lindsay Anne was not expecting to see the horrific sight and sounds she saw when she arrived in Paris Friday night.
"It didn't seem real,” she said. “It was surreal you never think you'd be in a situation like that.”
She says she was lucky as she was several kilometres away from where the terrorist attacks occurred.
"Last night it was a shock, so yes, I was scared, but I mean we were pretty far from the area.”
Even so, she says she could hear the haunting sounds of sirens from miles away that kept sounding for hours into the night.
"We didn't want to look outside, but all night you could just her the ambulance and everything. We kept up on the news for quite a while but the death tolls kept rising.”
Saturday, she says, the city was standing together.
Lindsay Anne hopes to be back home on Monday.
Here at home, Windsorites are also in shock.
The Windsor Symphony Orchestra is performing two works Saturday night inspired by Paris symphonies.
"We will be taking a moment of silence in the concert for those who lost their lives," says music director Robert Franz.
The concert is at the United Mennonite Church in Leamington at 7:30 p.m.
