hi just wanted 2 know if can drive with perishables thru france and italy on w/end,and if so what docs are needed ,ie forms,getting different views on this would appreciate advice on this : 
Fivesta. GET IN TOUCH WITH THE either the RHA or the FTA, you can also write direct to the Dept of TRANS PORT ,this will ensure that what ever information you are given is then direct from a offical office,
When my firm requires to drive in ITALY in the time of the driveing ban ,we had to act as follows due to our load, The firm for whom we had to deliver the load had to write to the OFFICE responsible so that we could get the permits to drive along with the required signs for the vehicles concerned .
This was also done for transport when delivering to factorys in FRANCE:
this is the way we had to work as our products where chemicals and
the factorys required the goods we carried to allow them to produce their
goods 24/7 --all year round .
If its perishable (on the list of products that each country classes as perishable) and you have the cmr (you have to have it anyway) just drive the thing. You dont need to send anyone a letter unless you want to move somethging that is not perishable (ie chemicals on a Sunday).
I will disagree with you about not haveing to speak to the authorities as
the ITALIANS do use signs put on the vehicle in question for sunday/ holiday driveing for one,
Some, and only some, of Italians have the letter D on a green background on their trailer.
Personally, if I have perishables on, I just drive … whenever I have been stopped and checked, Mr Policeman has asked for the CMR, checked the load is what the CMR says and thats been the end of that!!
By the way, perishables DOES NOT include frozen loads!!! For some strange reason, a frozen load is not classed as perishable
I have just discovered that I can run with Chocolate and Glucose as they are classed as food 
Things may have changed since I worked in Holland,but,even with fresh meat we were not allowed to drive in Italy on Sunday’s or Bank Holiday’s.The only exception being if you were en-route to a port to catch a ferry to Greece or wherever and you had a fax from the shipping line to confirm the date and time of sailing.
The rest of europe was no problem,as long as the CMR matches the load in the trailer,you can drive.
As quoted above,FROZEN goods are NOT classed as perishable.
But if you have a split compartment trailer with fresh and frozen goods,then no problem,even if it’s just one pallet or whatever of fresh.
I have even got away with driving a full load of onions from Holland through Germany to Kiel on a Bank Holiday,they aren’t exactly perishable,but they are fresh!
have just discovered that I can run with Chocolate and Glucose as they are classed as food
so you show off your yorkie bar on the dash then 
One thing you need to be aware of in France is this section from their list of permanent derogations to the weekend and holiday restrictions.
Trucks transporting, to the exclusion of all else, live animals or perishable goods or foodstuffs, provided that the quantity of goods constitutes at least half of the loading surface of the vehicle or half of the vehicle’s payload.
Found this for france