"We were at work and I had the laptop and she skyped through saying "we're okay", and the first thing I said was, well, why wouldn't you be?"
Mrs Rochery said straight after her daughter called she started listening to the radio but "there was nothing on there because at that point the hostage situation was still ongoing".
"And all we knew was that there were explosions around Paris," she said.
"It was a kind of total confusion really, so Celeste and her boyfriend just stayed put like everybody else and used social media to try to find out what was going on."
When Mrs Rochery found out the extent of the attacks, she asked her daughter if she wanted to come home to New Zealand.
"But now it's terrifying because, you know, where are you safe? You're not safe in a plane, you're not safe in the street, you just have to tough it out I guess."
Mrs Rochery said she was "totally shocked" by the terrorist attacks because "it happened to just ordinary people".
"That's the most revolting thing about it isn't it," she said.
"They've targeted people who are not in uniforms, are not standing up for any political point of view, they're just people. It's just disgusting.
"There are so many people who have connections with France, people who fought in the war, holidaymakers, and they all feel this connection to the country."
Mr Rochery said the attacks were "too fresh" for him to make comment on but that he appreciated the support from the community.
Masterton District Council will be illuminating the tree in the Masterton Town Square in blue, white and red this week in solidarity with the French nation.
