France is on a heightened state of alert following the stabbing death of a teacher in the city of Arras and a series of bomb scares. Three others were wounded in an attack carried out by an individual that claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group. 

A gunman on Monday that killed two Swedish nationals in the Belgian capital, Brussels, is also believed to have been inspired by IS.

French President Emmanuel Macron says that "Islamist terrorism" is on the rise across Europe and has called for a ruthless response to extremists. The country has raised its security alert to its highest level and deployed an additional 7,000 soldiers.

Some visitors seeing the sights of Paris say they have noticed an increased presence of law enforcement.

"There's a lot more police around in the city that's for sure and it's a good thing actually, it makes me feel a bit more comfortable," said one tourist on a trip to the Eiffel Tower.

Pranksters blamed for string of bomb threats

A number of airports and tourist sights have received bomb threats in recent days. Roughly 15 million people visit the Palace of Versailles each year but it's been evacuated four times in the past week.

Officials blame pranksters for the spate of fake threats. French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said the alerts were due to "little jokers, little clowns," adding that those responsible will be punished. A 16-year-old pupil was among 18 arrests over the bomb scares.

Security experts, however, say that such threats need to be taken seriously. "99.9 percent of the time it's just stupidity. But you have the risk, you have the possibility that something is real. Especially in the climate today we cannot just say 'OK it's nothing,'" said Claude Moniquet, co-Founder of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center.

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The elevated security threat coincides with the Rugby World Cup that France is currently hosting. Jean-Michel Fauvergue, a former commander of the RAID special police forces unit, believes security operations are going smoothly but says there is a balance to be found between safety and letting fans have fun.

"It's the problem between the unreasonable, which would be unreasonable in terms of safety and which prevents people from enjoying their match in a festive way. And the laxity that means there aren't enough people," he said. "I think we've got the balance right for the Rugby World Cup." 

Efforts are also ongoing to have adequate security systems in place in time for the Paris Olympics next summer when close to 16 million visitors could travel to the French capital, according to the city's tourism office.

Analysts say France has plenty of experience with counter-terrorism and is ramping up its preparations. "It means we will have many more people, many more police officers in the streets, many more soldiers in the streets and certainly more strict controls in airports, subway stations, for the sport events," Moniquet said.

Olympic organizers say safety is the top priority and that when it comes to security, they are at the top of their game.

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