following the tour de france

i'm heading to europe in june and will be doing the european whirl between june 17 and july 4. after that i am hoping to follow as much of the tour de france as possible, not because i'm a mad keen cyclist i'd just like to experience the atmosphere. in particular i'm hoping to catch the start in london (july 7) and some of the mountain stages in the pyrenees (around july 22 to 25). at the moment i'll be going solo, unless i meet up with people along the way that are keen.
just wondering if anyone has followed the tour before, or has plans to do so at some stage. i'm after any valuable info such as the best ways to get around and the best vantage points.
cheers,
tim