Paris-based Sharon Au advises visitors to be vigilant at all times

PARIS – Singaporean actress-host Sharon Au, who is based in Paris, has advised visitors to be vigilant at all times.

In the wake of

the riots in France in recent days,

the 47-year-old said she received many messages asking if it was safe to travel there now and what the safest parts of Paris for holiday-makers are.

For almost a week after the

June 27 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel,

whose last name is being withheld by the police, youths have been burning cars, clashing with the police, pillaging stores and setting fire to public buildings.

It was France’s worst riot in nearly two decades, although the violence appeared to be subsiding.

On Wednesday, Au posted a photo of herself reading in front of a bookstore, Le Librairie le Pieton de Paris, and wrote: “Safety and security are two utmost concerns to me and I do not take these questions lightly.”

Referring to the

traumatic burglary of her apartment in 2022,

she said: “I hesitate to dispense any advice as to where is safe or not. I stayed in the safest district in Paris and look at what happened to me last year.”

Having lived in the French capital since 2018, she offered some tips on navigating the city – “be vigilant at all times, monitor the media and avoid trouble hot spots where riots are taking place”.

She also pointed out that travellers should watch their belongings as “pickpocketing is still an ubiquitous phenomenon”.

She added: “Other than that, there are millions of tourists soaking up the cultures of France without incident. My friends and I who live here are still able to find pockets of peace and beauty, away from the maddening crowd.”