What does it mean to find a teacher?

I have seen people beeing adviced to find a teacher countless time. I am interessed in the practicalities of finding a teacher, since I live in France and I have never met any buddhist in my entire life. I assume in other countries where buddhism is more widespread things are a lot different. Please excuse the naivety of my question. **What is a teacher ?** Is it the kind of person who owns of diploma or certification and teaches for a living, like one whould teach maths, history or biology in high school ? So finding a teacher would be like attenting a class ? Or is it more like finding a mentor, somebody who is more exerienced and who whould guide you along the path, like a friend. Perhaps it is a mixture of both, a person who provides advices for a living by having face to face chats with it's pupils. I can imagine the concept beeing more abstract. A teacher can be a book, or a community on the internet. **Knowing that, where do I need to go in order to find teachers ?** Are there places buddhist like to meet, like churchs for christians ? People often mention retreats or retreat centers, what are they ? Do I need to travel to India or Tibet ? Judging from what I've heard, it seems like a must. Please note that I am **not** intersted about the question of finding the right teacher, for now I just want to find teachers.