This summer I'm going to be in the south of France (Sanary-sur-Mer, near Toulon and close to Marseilles) for my cousin's wedding and I'm hoping to catch a stage of the Tour.  The wedding is July 4th, so I'm thinking of Castres-Ax 3 Domaines on the 6th - looks to be an exciting climbing stage through the Pyrenees.  On the other hand, my family is part Corsican and I've never been, so I'm thinking instead of visiting the island and watching the second stage, Bastia-Ajaccio.  I'd like to find something that wouldn't require too much travel so I think the Alpe d'Huez is probably out.  Ventoux isn't too far, but I wonder about those more "legendary" stages - are they usually more crowded?

Thoughts?  (maybe I should just be emailing Stephane, but I thought I'd crowd-source first). 

From what I can tell, the ultimate climb to a summit finish is utter madness.  Never tried it.

My own experience was a good bit simpler.  I've seen a few stage starts, I've wandered around after a finish and on a rest day, I've ridden to a mountain view, and I've waited for a finish.  I've ridden to/from the stages and I've been in the same town and I've taken the train.

For the mountains, you need to get there early. Like four hours before the race is projected to pass your intended spot.  The only way you'll be able to get up on race day is on foot or by bike.  They close the road something like the night before, so any cars you see will have been there at least overnight.  The road will be crowded, and you'll be stopped by police periodically, but you can ride it.  Going up the descent can be easier, but htne you'll have to contend with fans on the ascent who won't see you coming down.  You want to be in place before the caravan publicitaire goes by.  It's a hoot, so worth the early start.  Finding someone with a television makes the time pass fast.  It's usually pretty international crowd, so if you can get by in two languages, you'll have no problem making friends.  You'll know the race is coming because of the approach of helicopters.  And you'll be stuck in place until the voiture balai goes by--which, if you're on a later climb, could be 45 minutes.  

The other experiences are good, too.  Expect for everything to take a long time, so budget several hours before and after as part of the experience.  I wouldn't recommend driving to anything unless you expect that you'll need to show up really early to find parking and wait a few hours for everything and everyone to leave.  Bring food, drink, and reading material.  Unless the race is coming by exactly where you're staying, expect any Tour viewing experience to take a whole day.  

Thanks, JP - that's helpful.  One of the big IF's of this whole plan is convincing Grace that this would be a worthwhile way to spend a day in southern France - and you've confirmed my suspicion that this is a BIG IF.  I might still try to do the Corsica idea - that way, Grace could sightsee or whatever if she wasn't interested.

And yeah, my family is French so français is no problem - with 'merican and a little Spanish I should be doing shots of ouzo with my new shirtless dehydrated friends in no time.

White nights in Leningrad

Guy Fawkes night in London

Carnival in Rio

Night of the Dead in Mexico

Chinese New Year in Beijing 

Does anyone here have experience watching the final stage on the Champs-Elysees?  Asking for a sister-in-law.  

Part of champs-elysees will have bleachers set up but I don't remember if it was a VIP section thing or not. Either way, she'll have to get there super early if she wants a decent spot.