In 1752 Wolfe was granted extended leave, and he first went to Ireland staying in Dublin with his uncle and visiting Belfast and the site of the Battle of the Boyne. After a brief stop at his parents house in Greenwich he received permission from the Duke of Cumberland to go abroad and he crossed the Channel to France. He took in the sights of Paris including the Tuileries Gardens and visited the Palace of Versailles. He was frequently entertained by the British Ambassador, Earl of Albemarle, with whom he had served in Scotland in 1746. Albemarle arranged an audience for Wolfe with Louis XV. While in Paris Wolfe spent money on improving his French and his fencing skills. He applied for further leave so he could witness a major military exercise by the French army, but he was instead urgently ordered home. He rejoined his regiment in Glasgow. By 1754 Britain's declining relationship with France made a fresh war imminent and fighting broke out in North America between the two sides.