Portugal's parfumeries are sweeter

Where's the best place to buy a beautiful bottle of French perfume? Paris, you say?

Nope. Like a number of products in Europe, the price you pay for an item depends a great deal on where you pay it. Paris, according to a survey published recently by a Eurpopean consumer organization, is the most expensive place to buy perfume, about 35 percent more than Lisbon, which is the cheapest.

While one aim of the European Community is to achieve a common market, it's a long way from that goal in several consumer areas, the group says. This is because many manufacturers of perfume, cameras, sound equipment, and spare parts for cars still treat individual countries in Europe as if they were distinct and separate markets.

As a result, West Germany and Italy are the best places to buy film. Cameras are cheapest in West Germany and Britain. Perfume prices smell sweetest in Portugal and Denmark.