Vidal de la Blache and Demangeon’s American Voyages 
At the turn of the 20th century, the number of French geographers fortunate enough to visit North America could be counted on one hand. The overseas voyages Vidal de la Blache and Demangeon took part in introduced them to societies where they discovered new relationships with space. The major companies of those societies mobilized concentrated forms of energy, mechanized labour and operated mass transit systems. This encounter with a more dynamic world had a decisive influence on Vidal’s concept of regional organization into cities and transport networks, just as it altered Demangeon’s perception of American power, as evidenced by the pair’s subsequent work.