Elcho left Winchester in 1738 for Reims, followed by a period at the French military academy in Angers, a popular location for young British noblemen. He then went on the 18th century cultural excursion known as the Grand Tour and visited Rome in October 1740, one of whose attractions was the exiled James Stuart and his sons. After the failed 1719 Rising, many Jacobite exiles accepted pardons and returned home, among them Lord George Murray. By 1737, Jacobitism seemed little more than nostalgia and James was reportedly "living tranquilly in Rome, having abandoned all hope of a restoration."