We had decided to miss the caravan leaving this morning & just get to Givors for the main event- the start of stage 15 of the Tour de France. The train from Lyon took only 16 mins & was surprisingly not crowded. From Givors station it was 5 or so mins to the centre of town first passing the team buses, then the support cars, the start line & finally securing a spot just past the old folks home where they had a band with tables set up along the footpath for the residents to see the race- they were having a great time! We could just see the start line & after about a 20 min wait watching all the support & sponsor cars head off the bikes once again came & went quickly, this time just in one big pack. It was over in less than a minute. Givors didn't have a lot to offer a tourist so we headed back to Lyon with a few hours to waste & being Sunday not a lot open. Eventually we found a McDonald's in the shopping centre open & used there free wifi for a while whilst having lunch. About 1.30 we went back to the hotel to get our bags & then back to Part Dieu station for the Rhone Express tram which goes express to the airport. It was a good service but more expensive than Melbourne's sky bus at €15. We were soon on our way to Ol Blighty on our BA flight to Heathrow! Being such a clear warm day we were able to get amazing views over London as Sean got his first glimpse of the winding Thames, Tower Bridge & Big Ben! After arriving in Heathrow we got through all the usual channels & were soon buying an Oyster card ready to ride the Tube into Covent Garden where we were staying. We decided to get off at Holborn station to avoid the crowds & it was only a short walk to the Travelodge where we were surprised at the size of our room- very spacious for London , the only issue being that as the UK was in a 'Heatwave' (30 degree days) it was very hot in the room with no aircon. As we were on France time it was more than time for dinner so we found a pub a few blocks away & ordered some good old fashioned pies along with hand pumped ales. My steak & ale pie with mash, greens & gravy was delicious and filling as were the beers. After dinner, as it was still light, we went for a walk through covent garden, then down to the Thames for land based views of Big Ben but once again we had done quite a few km's today so we soon circled back to the hotel to sweat out the night. What I would have done for a simple pedestal fan!!!!