We are all familiar with this palindrome, but how many now recall the back story.
On 25 April 1814, Captain, later Rear Admiral, Thomas Ussher was tasked with conveying the deposed Emperor Bonaparte Napoleon to his Exile on Elba, an island between Corsica and Italy.
To this end, along with Colonel Sir Neil Campbell, he set sail from Marseille to Fréjus, to pick up Napoleon and his retinue and transport them to Elba. On reaching Fréjus the shore party, including Capt. Ussher and Col. Campbell met Napoleon and his retinue.
Napoleon greeted them with the immortal words:
“Á l’eau, c’est l’heure.”