Trip for our Amercian Guests to France

Hoping some of you can help me.   

Some of our American Guests who are attending our wedding in July would like to go to France as a bit of a pilgrimage to family roots.  They believe that they originally come from France near the Swiss/Italian border.  They do not have a particular town/village to visit.  They just want to tour the area and then possibly venture down to Italy (one relative is Italian American). 

We have researched hundreds and hundreds of places for them on the net but its all got quite confusing for us as none of us have traveled there in my family before, we tend to travel to Villefranche-Sur-Mer! 

So here is my question...Has anyone traveled to this area of France? where did you stay and what places would you recommend to visit? also on a side note..if you have any ideas into traveling around Italy that would be great but mainly interested in the French/Italian/Swiss border.

The relatives are hugely into historical and art interests.

Hope you can help guys!

Thank you 

The only place in that area that I have been is Chamonix, in the summer so not just for skiing.  It is a beautiful area but I don't know about the historical/art interests.  I went to school in Geneva many years ago, they might enjoy that and I've also visited Lugano and that is very beautiful. 

Tuscany is a fantastic area of Italy to visit, loads of history and art.  Florence has lots to offer, a trip to Pisa to see the tower is good but there isn't much else in Pisa.  The walled city of Lucca is worth a trip and one of my favorite places San Gimignano.

I've been to the Annecy (France) area and also spent time in Sion (Switzerland).  It's gorgeous around there.  Many, many auberges to stay in, and the people are really friendly.  Can't speak highly enough of it.