A James-Massot partnership would have been very interesting.
There's not even any need to start what if'ing.

That was never going to happen anyway. Most likely when Vanessa began looking for a new French partner, Bruno was already skating pairs (probably with Anne-Laure Letscher) and thus Vanessa wouldn't have considered him. Bruno also skated with Camille Foucher and later with Daria Popova.
It was Vanessa herself who noticed and contacted Morgan Cipres. He was a singles skater at the time, and Vanessa asked him to tryout with her for pairs, post 2010-Olympics after her former partner, Yannick Bonheur, retired. The rest is history.

Vanessa knew what she was looking for in a partner, and having set eyes on Morgan, she did not need to look any further.
V&M were raw and hot from the beginning. They still had much to learn and to fine-tune, but they were clearly made for each other, hugely talented, and heart-grabbingly exciting from the very beginning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKp47mM8tRg 2010 exhibition in St.-Ouen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IV5wrXEQw 2011 TEB sp (their GP debut) Eurosport guys give great praise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPKs3N7nXZM not as much audio interference as above, but the picture isn't as sharp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrC9qzKaf5M Ah,
they were always so good together; they just had to keep proving it over and over again, and never giving up -- the way of things in this freakin' sport!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYujUB8IxDA Ted Flett's Blade Boys interview at TEB 2015
This is an adorable and interesting interview from TSL. Who knew Ingo Steuer tried to break them up to pair Vanessa with Bruno Massot?!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7Z8q78xOE&feature=youtu.be
Ah, I see now how this topic arose, but I haven't checked out that interview. As much as I love V&M, I wish they knew enough about DL and his nastiness to decline being interviewed by him. Oh well, DL keeps trying hard, and he's got enough visibility and people who are enabling him, to continue hanging on.
By the point in time that Ingo might have been trying to manuever such a split and switch, there was never any chance that Vanessa would leave her friend and skating partner Morgan. Contrary to the perception someone expressed earlier in this thread, the connection between Morgan and Vanessa is very deep, magnetic and special. They're so hot together that they had to stop seeing each other romantically off the ice, in order to keep it together on the ice.
I love Bruno A LOT but I feel like Vanessa and Morgan are very very well matched. I think each partnership worked out for the best in the end.
Totally agree!