As others have said, by all means scout around for a good spot near a mountain stage finish. But if you want to be sure your Dad gets plenty of souvenirs from his trip, try fitting in an extra day somewhere else, less crowded.
We took friends down to a village about halfway along one of the Alpine stages last summer. We got there about an hour before the caravan arrived, parked down a track on the side of the village from where we'd be leaving later (the French are obsessed with parking as close as possible to where they want to go - watch them circling outside supermarkets, trying to get a place right by the door - but we parked five minutes from the village centre by foot, and had our pick of parking spots, while others were getting extremely stressed with each other trying to park right by the road blocks).
We walked into the village and out the other side, up the start of the climb for about 15 minutes, and found a good spot with a great view of the action (the village was between hors-categorie climbs, at the bottom of one descent and the start of a new climb, so we could see them coming from a fair way off). Here's some cyclist or other being nursed uphill...
We had our pick of where to sit and, once the caravan started rolling past, no demeaning scrabbling around for the freebies they launch at you. And they launch a lot. There's usually quite a jovial air and people end up swapping stuff with their neighbours, whereas at a stage finish it can get a lot more scrabbly and desperate.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for our friends (they're lifelong cycling fans and were over from Oz) so we let them keep everything: they went away with armloads of stuff, including several different caps, beanie hats, teeshirts, neck-warmers, a couple of different sous-casques, as well as all the usual free sweeties, crisps and snacks - although they didn't seem that bothered by the washing powder samples.
Stage starts can be done in two ways. If you want to see the riders up close and personal, or stare in a geeky manner at other people's bikes like a low-rent stalker, go to the "fictional" start (the village or town that's paid a fortune to have the Tour in town), avoid the crowds at the start line and wander around the team buses. Without even trying, I found myself standing next to Messrs Contador, Armstrong and Cancellara, but was too lazy to whip out the camera. Here's Mr Hushovd's spare bike, though, up on the team car:
If you're at the stage start and want freebies, though, check out the route and go up the road after the "real" start, where the stage timing begins - the caravan doesn't start lobbing stuff out until they've passed that point.
Thank you all.
